REBEL
by vanhoose
Summary: Fighting For All That's Good Sequel…Maleficent's curse wiped all of their memories and transported them to a futuristic world in which she rules. In order to regain their memories and get back to reality, they must join forces. Will they be able to become the team of rebels they were once upon a dream, or will they suffer the consequences of her curse for all eternity?
1. Forbidden Love

**Hey lovely readers! I've put a lot of thought into this, and I finally caved. I decided it's time to write a "Fighting For All That's Good" sequel. Y'all convinced me it was a good idea.**

******Just in case y'all forgot anything, I'd reread chapter 42 of "FFATG" just so you get a sense of what was happening last time we saw the keepers. This takes place about a year and 3 months after "FFATG", so what's happened in between the two stories will be explained, don't you worry!**

******I hope y'all enjoy this as much as "FFATG," because I'm already loving it! :)**

******I'm going to put the disclaimer at the beginning this time, just in case. I don't own rights to the Kingdom Keepers or any place/person/country/movie/character/book/song, etc. I reference. This is just a silly story for fun and games, I'm not out to steal anybody's thunder-or anything else for that matter.**

******Just as a heads up, this "chapter" as a more detailed summary, the prologue _and_ the first chapter. So it's not going to be this long _every_ time...but I wanted to throw all of this at y'all so you could really understand the first chapter. **

******And without further adieu, here's the "Fighting For All That's Good" sequel...REBEL.**

* * *

Full Summary

"Fighting For All That is Good" Sequel…Fifteen months after Finn came out of his two-month coma, all seven keepers are lured back to Magic Kingdom under false pretenses, believing that Wayne has requested their presence. When Maleficent shows up instead, Finn knows something horrible is about to happen. Maleficent enacts a curse, sending the keepers to an alternate universe, in which the year is 2358 and Maleficent is ruling the world. All of their memories have been wiped, replaced with new, miserable ones. When all of them are brought back to the place where it all began, will things be like old times? In order to regain their memories and get back to reality, they must work together to defeat Maleficent, but that task will be the hardest one the group has ever faced. Will they be able to take down Maleficent on her illusion of a home turf or will they be forced to suffer the consequences of her curse for all eternity?

* * *

Prologue

October 1, 2013: Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

Finn shivered. For an October in Florida, it was cold. He forgot to bring a jacket. He noticed his wife of five months shivering beside him and he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He kissed her on the cheek and tightened his hold on her.

"You worried?" She whispered into his ear.

"No, I'm just nervous." Finn glanced over toward the giant castle looming above them. They hadn't crossed over in a long time, if he didn't count the one time last year while he was in a coma. "It's been too long. Why did he call us here now?"

Amanda shrugged, not providing an answer.

"I don't think anybody knows why the old man wants us here, Whitman." Maybeck said from behind. Maybeck kept walking until he was on Finn's left side. "How are you two doing?"

Finn knew he didn't care. Ever since Charlene had called off the engagement two months ago, Maybeck had this sad look in his eyes. Finn hoped that Charlene actually showed up tonight so that they might work things out, but Finn knew that was wishful thinking.

"Good," Amanda replied softly. He loved how she could be so sweet to someone so broken. It was inspiring to Finn. "How about you?" She reached out and touched Maybeck's arm.

Maybeck sighed. "Good as I'll ever be I guess." He let his shoulder slump.

"Hey guys!" Willa's excited voice called from the opposite direction. She was heading toward them with an extra skip in her step. She hurried to give Amanda a hug, followed by Finn and Maybeck. While hugging Maybeck, she whispered something into his ears—probably comforting and encouraging words, if Finn had to guess.

Finn looked past Willa and saw Philby walking slowly down the cobblestone street.

"Hey," Philby's voice screamed exhaustion.

Amanda wiggled her way out of Finn's arms and hurried over to a bench to talk with Willa. Finn saw Jess appear out of nowhere and join them. That only left Charlene.

Philby, Maybeck and Finn stood there in silence for a bit before Philby broke the silence with a dramatically loud yawn.

"Tired much?" Maybeck retorted.

"I have an eight month old daughter, I think that is a good enough reason to be tired." Philby retorted back.

"How's Lizzie doing?" Finn asked, ending their war of retorts.

"Great. She's…she's just so little and adorable. She said her first word the other day." Philby smiled a devious grin. "It was da-da, meaning me."

Finn returned a smile. "How did Willa take that?"

Philby shrugged. "She was kind of disappointed it wasn't ma-ma. Oh well. Lizzie's just a daddy's girl, I guess."

"Does anybody know why we're here?"

Finn and Maybeck turned around to see Charlene standing in the middle of the street in possibly the worst outfit for cold weather…ever.

Charlene was wearing a pair of navy blue Nike dry-fit shorts and a white tank top. In this unusually cold weather she had to be freezing.

She spread out her arms in frustration. The other girls came over and joined the rest of the group, cautiously watching Maybeck and Charlene. They hadn't seen each other since the engagement was broken off, as far as Finn knew.

"Maybeck," Charlene said quietly but harshly.

"Charlene," Maybeck replied, quickly nodding his head in recognition.

"Uh…so…guys…let's uh…find Wayne. He wanted to see all of us." Finn managed to get out somehow.

The rest of the group agreed and slowly headed over toward Wayne's apartment over the firehouse.

Finn knocked on the door a few times quietly. At first, nothing happened. Finn glanced back to the group nervously before knocking again.

_Knock, knock, knock._

Finn waited a few seconds before hearing the door unlock. He couldn't help but smile. The old man hadn't forgotten about them after all. The last time Finn had heard from Wayne was in high school, when they had defeated Maleficent and the rest of the Overtakers for good. It was now six years after graduation and the whole DHI/keeper thing was the last thing from Finn's mind…until today.

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been worried about Maleficent returning, but he always shook the thought out of his head. He remembered killing her. That memory still haunted his nightmares. They were finished with the Overtakers, Finn was sure of it.

The door slowly opened and Finn was immediately put up his guard when he saw that all of the lights were off. Finn glanced back to the rest of the group one more time before stepping into the room.

The floorboards creaked under his feet as he walked through the living room. There was no sign of Wayne or any human being, now that Finn thought about it. There weren't any cobwebs, which was a good sign. Wayne—or someone else—had been here recently. Slivers of moonlight were coming through the small windows, elongating the shadows and giving the room an eerie look.

Once all seven of them had made it into the room, the door slammed shut. Finn turned towards the door and saw a pair of yellow glowing eyes staring at them.

Finn made his way through his six friends and stood in front of them—half shielding them from the villain with yellow eyes, half wanting to get a better look.

A maniacal laugh echoed through the small room. Amanda found Finn's left hand and held on tight, but Finn didn't dare look anywhere except for at the villain herself.

"I see you seven are still all friends. How…precious."

The yellow eyes moved forward until they stepped into the moonlight that was coming in through the windows. Her long black cape with purple edges swayed behind her as she walked. Her green skin almost glowed in the moonlight, which made Finn's stomach do backflips.

"Finn Whitman, how wonderful to see you after all these years." Her smile sent shivers down his spine. He knew he had killed her six years ago. If she was here, that could only mean something bad was about to happen.

Finn squeezed Amanda's hand as hard as he could and didn't dare loosen his grip. He didn't want her to let go. If something was going to happen, he wanted to be with her when this all came crashing down.

"What have you done with Wayne?" Finn asked the green fairy. Her smile turned into a devious grin.

"He's…been relocated…" She took a step closer to Finn.

"If he's dead when I find him, I swear I'll—"

"You'll what? Kill me? How well did that work out for you the first time?"

Finn didn't reply, but he did throw daggers at her with his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to strangle the fairy right now. He had a wife to protect, friends to lead, one best friend to avenge, and a life to preserve. He was not about to let her take any of that away from him.

"You see, Finn Whitman, I've got a plan, one that you are quite necessary for. All seven of you are needed, actually."

She paused to look at each of the keepers.

"I've spent time pondering over what the best form of revenge would be for you little nuisances. And now, it is ready to be put to use."

"What are you talking about?" Finn asked her. He did his best to hide the fear in his voice, but knowing the fairy, she already knew how scared he was and was plotting on how to exploit it.

"I've created a curse. None of you will remember who you are. You'll be taken to a world where _I_ rule."

"'Cause you can't win here?" Maybeck spat off sarcastically.

"I _will_ win here, you'll see." The fairy's yellow eyes bore down on Maybeck, who didn't seem to be fazed by it. "This new world is my form of torture for you. Happiness will be foreign to you."

She reached into her cape and pulled out a small vial. Inside was a bubbling, black liquid. She shook the vial furiously and uncapped the cork. The black liquid bubbled up and spilled out onto the floor.

"Enjoy your new lives, keepers. Or better yet…_don't._"

Finn wrapped his arms around Amanda and pulled her in close as the black liquid came tumbling in their direction. There was no point in running from this curse, it would only make it worse for them.

Amanda leaned her head up and kissed him on the lips.

"I don't care what happens in this new world," Finn began. The liquid began to break down the wood in the floor, creating a black hole. The winds were whipping so loud that it was hard for anyone to hear anything. "I will find you, Amanda."

Finn turned to look back at all of his friends. "We'll find each other. I promise!"

They all somewhat acknowledged what he had said.

Amanda nodded, kissing him one last time. "I love you, Finn."

"I love you too Amanda."

He pulled her in close as the black liquid dissolved the floorboards beneath their feet and they plummeted into the black hole.

Somewhere along the line, Amanda was ripped from his grasp, her screams lost in the wind.

Finn felt his heart being ripped apart. He knew he would find his friends in this new world. He would do it. It was his life's mission. He was their leader and refused to fail them.

Finn hit the bottom of the hole with a large _THUD!_ and everything went black.

* * *

Chapter 1: Forbidden Love

January 9, 2358  
Province 9, County 15, British Columbia  
North Vancouver High School

Drip...drip...drip...

The sound of the coffee being made echoed throughout the empty teacher's lounge. Jess had another half hour until her next class. Right now she was occupying herself by staring at the coffee dripping into the coffee pot through the filter. Some day she was having.

The door opened, letting the sounds of the loud teenagers in the hallway flow into the room for a mere three seconds. The door shut and the silence took over again.

Jess didn't even bother looking over her shoulder to see who had come in. She didn't care. All of the teachers here hated her. She was alone.

The only thing Jess lived for was the black market art auctions on Tuesday nights. Luckily today was a Tuesday.

A chill went up Jess' spine and she knew someone was behind her.

"What do you want?" She whispered. She knew that if she talked any louder the hidden microphones would hear her, this creating even _more_ problems for her.

"You gonna be at the show tonight?" The voice was deep but quiet. She knew immediately it was Patrick, one of the school's two janitors.

"Yeah, you?"

"'Course. I got my eye on a nice Lockhart original."

Jess smiled to herself, but she didn't dare turn around and show him.

"You do have a new one, right?" He asked.

Ding! The coffee had stopped dripping through the filter. Patrick reached around Jess and poured himself a cup.

"Of course I do." She reassured him. "Don't I always?"

Patrick flashed her a smile quickly before turning toward the door. "Good, my daughter loves them. See you tonight."

Patrick winked at her before walking out of the room, leaving Jess alone. Her heart sank in her chest.

The one guy she had fallen hard for had lost his wife in the war on rebels two years ago. Their daughter, little three-year old Rose, didn't know any better. She didn't even know her own mother. She kept calling Jess "mommy." Jess knew she couldn't keep this up forever, because sooner or later, Patrick would have to tell his daughter the truth.

She wanted to be there for both Patrick and Rose, but she couldn't do it _legally_. The law clearly states that a man or woman can only marry once—no divorces, no remarrying after a spouse dies. The only exception being the royal figureheads in each province, since the royal blood lines could be at stake.

Jess poured herself a cup of coffee and walked to her classroom, where she taught history and government—also known as the world's most boring subject, not that she would voice that opinion.

She sat at her desk and stared at the afternoon lesson plans.

She would be talking about how the dictatorial monarchy worked. Maleficent, the "benevolent" dictator ruled over the world (Jess snorted at the wording, Maleficent was anything _but_ benevolent), with twelve royal families ruling over the twelve provinces. After the royal families, there were prime ministers who were in charge of a certain number of counties in each province. The prime ministers oversaw things such as the economy, the scientific community and the army.

Nothing else seemed important in the society. The smartest people worked in the labs researching things for the dictator. Those who were in her favor, became rich and enjoyed lavish, carefree lives. Those who were good at tactics and fighting, joined the army and fought against the "rebels." All others were forced into mediocre jobs that meant nothing, but the government propaganda made it _seem_ important.

Jess' graduation test had told her she would be a teacher, and here she was, miserable as could be.

The only thing Jess found joy in was art. But all kinds of art forms were forbidden, unless commissioned by the royal family or the dictator herself.

Jess knew from the moment she started painting, that none of her works would ever be accepted into society.

She drew things she saw in her wildest dreams: pictures of a group of young teens (whom she dreamt about so much she felt as if she had known them her whole life) battling Maleficent herself. Almost always the scene was in a historical place she had only seen in the history textbooks: the place where Maleficent began her world domination—a place called Lake Buena Vista. Jess had never been there, but she dreamt about it as if it was her home.

Patrick had discovered her art one day while over at her apartment and had told her about the black market art auctions on Tuesdays.

_Patrick…_

Jess sighed. Over the past year and a half she had fallen for him, but it was clearly written that their love was forbidden.

The bell rang and students began filing into her classroom. Jess took another sip of coffee and began writing on the blackboard with a small piece of chalk.

_Two more classes and then you're done_, Jess reminded herself, _you can do this._

* * *

Jess walked down the street late at night, slipping in and out of the shadows as to not be seen by the police officers patrolling.

Jess reached apartment number 15B and knocked on the door. Four times, pause, two times, pause, four times again. Jess glanced over her shoulder, just to make sure there weren't any officers nearby.

The door opened and she was ushered inside by the owner. Jess knew apartment 15B like her own. She turned left into the kitchen and walked into the pantry. Inside, she moved a box of Cheetos off of the shelf, triggering a secret door.

Inside the secret door, was a staircase leading down to the basement. The only light Jess could see was a few candles on the edge of every fourth step, to prevent accidents. The last thing they needed at a black market art auction was for someone to get hurt.

Once Jess had made it down the stairs, she went through another door to the underground auction room. It was the size of the kitchen above and brightly lit—but not too bright, for that might draw suspicion. The room didn't have windows, but it did have a few exists, various staircases leading to different apartments on the block.

In the center of the room were rows of chairs, all facing a small stage. On the stage, the auctioneer was collecting art pieces and determining their worth. Workers were moving entire collections around the stage, preparing for the show. People were crowded in small groups around the room chatting amongst themselves, indulging on the snacks provided.

Jess made her way to the auctioneer and handed him her newest piece. The auctioneer pulled out a magnifying glass and examined it thoroughly.

The drawing was only 6 by 4 inches and on a piece of notebook paper, but all art had to be smaller than 8 by 11 inches, so that it could be concealed easily. Jess had gone the extra step this week and placed her drawing in a black frame.

On this new piece of hers, Jess had drawn a picture of a young boy battling a large demon-bat figure in a cave. He had to be no older than fourteen, and had short brown hair and green eyes. The boy was only armed with a small portion of a knife, which was already covered in blood. Jess wasn't sure it had been his own, or if it belonged to a previous enemy. His expression was pained, as if he had suffered a severe loss. This picture was of a recent dream of hers. Like always, she had felt compelled to draw it out. This one was colored in with colored pencils. Jess was particularly proud of the shadows she had drawn on the demon's face. Something about this picture seemed familiar, like all of her dreams, but she figured she had dreamt it before when she was younger. It wouldn't be the first time she had dreamt the same dream twice.

"Excellent Lockhart," the auctioneer said with a smile. She left the piece with him and hurried to find a seat.

She sat down in a row of empty chairs and watched as the auctioneer added her piece to the auction collection for tonight. She checked her watch. The auction would be starting in five minutes.

"Hey," Patrick said as he plopped down in the seat next to her. "How was the rest of your day?"

Jess shrugged. "Eh, boring as usual. How's Rose?"

"She's asleep, but her aunt is watching her tonight."

Jess nodded and watched the auctioneer as he ushered people to sit down, for the auction was about to start.

Patrick draped an arm over her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek, something he could only do here.

"What's wrong babe?"

"Just having a bad day, I guess."

"Don't you worry! With money your new piece will bring in, we can go out and celebrate."

Jess turned and gave him a confused look. "Go out? You know we can't do that!"

"Why not? It's been two years since my wife died. Everybody _here_ knows we're together."

"But it's illegal. We'd be killed. What would happen to Rose if that happened?"

Patrick sighed. She could tell that he hadn't thought of that. He shook his head, as if disregarding the idea all together. "She'd probably just go live with her aunt."

Jess studied him and gasped. "You're actually considering this, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" He turned to face Jess, his beautiful green eyes bearing down on her, similar to the young teenager in tonight's drawing. "I've loved you for a _very_ long time Jess, why can't I be with you? What does that stupid dictator care about me remarrying? I never loved my first wife in the first place! That was all my mother's fault."

"Patrick," Jess placed a hand on his thigh. "I don't want you to be killed for me."

"But Jess," Patrick moved in closer. She could smell his breath, which smelt like his delicious chocolate chip cookies. "You're a cause worth fighting for. If that includes dying, so be it."

Jess knew she was on the verge of tears. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in public—that is _not_ the kind of person she is.

Before she could answer, the auctioneer began the show.

* * *

At the end of the auction, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Jess turned around and saw a young man standing there.

He was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair was brown and his eyes were green. Something about him seemed very familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I loved the piece you drew. Where'd you get the idea for that one?" He asked her.

Jess shook her head, pushing the thoughts of familiarity out of her mind. "I...uh...just started drawing one day, and that was the result."

The young man studied her. Jess knew he wasn't believing a word she said. He seemed to know more than he was letting on.

The man fished a black envelope out of his pocket and offered it to her.

"What's this?" She asked the unknown man.

"An envelope?" The young man said, as if Jess had asked the most rhetorical question imaginable. She took the letter and he leaned in close. "Read it when you're alone, Jess. This is not the place," he whispered into her ear.

The young man walked away before he could explain anything. Jess watched him walk away, going up one of the various exit staircases. He turned at the top step and waved at her quickly before disappearing into whatever apartment he had come from.

Jess stared down at the envelope before shoving it in her purse.

* * *

**So what do y'all think so far? Like? Dislike? Love? Hate? Don't care? Continue? ****Any ideas on what the other keepers are doing or where they are in this cursed world Maleficent has created? ****Any idea on what the black envelope holds? Any comment at all?**

**I'm going to be wrapping up "Born For the Sunrise, We'll Survive the Pain" and "Whodunnit" soon. ****And just for you who've been avid readers of those plus FFATG, I'm about to blow your mind. **

**All four of my multi-chapters are on the same timeline.**

**Let me explain..."Whodunnit" occurs one year after college. "BFTS, WSTP" occurs during their 3rd year of college, "FFATG"-1 year after college, REBEL-1 year, 3 months after "FFATG." That's all in the same "world," per se. Events that happen in the first 3, will be part of the character's back story for REBEL. ****Everything in the previous three multi-chapters has been leading up to this epic finale. So in reality, Rebel is the 4th in a series of multi-chapters, if you want to get technical.**

**I hope that'll be helpful when it comes to the upcoming endings of "BFTS, WSTP" and "Whodunnit." (hint, hint). I'll update as soon as I can. So in the meantime, review and enjoy the rest of your weekend!**


	2. Brainwashed Zombies

**I'm not going to lie, I had fun with this chapter. Philby's just such a great character that I absolutely love! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as last chapter. **

**Here's chapter 2!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Brainwashed Zombies

February 2, 2358  
Province 2, County 1, United Kingdom  
Royal London Hospital

To say Philby was having a bad day, would be the understatement of a century. No, scratch that—a millennia.

First, his girlfriend Abigail broke up with him. That not only hurt his feelings, but it was had affected his work for the day. His first surgery went seriously wrong, almost causing the patient to die on his table. Philby composed himself long enough to save the patient's life and finish the surgery.

Next, his boss told him he was moving provinces. And not just to any province, but the 7th. Not only is the 7th the worst district in just about _everything_, it's got the worst healthcare system. And not only is he moving to the worst place for someone of his profession, he's going to the _worst_ hospital in the _worst_ county in the world: in a small town outside of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Then, if being demoted and embarrassed in front of the entire Royal London Hospital staff isn't enough, the local rebel base was attacked by Maleficent's forces this afternoon.

Philby had to leave work early so that he could help his fellow comrades in the resistance. He had used some lame excuse about packing for his move to the 7th province, but he knew his boss wasn't buying it.

Knowing Philby's luck, he would be reported. Being reported was the _last_ thing he wanted to have happen—the nail in the coffin, per se. Not only did a soldier come inspect your house, you were also brought in for interrogation. Most that were reported go to provincial jail. Those who were fortunate enough to not be sent to jail were always…_different_…when they came back. Philby couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, he just got that feeling.

Philby rushed into the make-shift hospital for the rebels, somewhere in an abandoned underground train station. Philby remembered learning about places like these back in history class. They used to be used for underground transportation for the masses, but when Maleficent took over, they were used for rebel forces and were shut down.

Little did she know, they were still using them.

"Dr. Philby! We need you over here!" A nurse yelled at him. The wailing of the injured was creating a scene unlike any Philby had seen before.

For some weird reason, Philby thought he had seen a scene similar to this in a movie once. _Gone with the Wind_ came to mind, but the only movies that came to mind were government propaganda films shown in school. Philby shook the idea from his head, he needed to focus. He would worry about where that title had come from later.

Philby hurried over to the nurse and his eyes went wide when he saw the patient.

"He's losing a lot of blood. We need to amputate or he's going to die," the nurse informed him. Philby took off his winter jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

"I'll need some kind of knife and a lot of bandages," he told the nurse. "And some form of anesthetic. He's not going to want to be conscious for this."

The nurse nodded and scurried away to find the supplies. Philby pulled on a pair of blue latex gloves and took a deep breath. _Time to get serious_, he reminded himself. _You can do this_.

* * *

Philby had spent the next eleven hours operating on the injured rebel soldiers. Once he had done all that he could do, he collapsed on a couch in the rebel commander's office.

He closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come take him away, but he was awoken by the rebel commander.

"Doctor, what are you doing here?"

"I…uh…was just taking a nap…it's been a long day…and…"

"You saved all of the men you operated on today."

Philby sat up, stunned at the commander's comment.

"Uh…yes sir."

"I just wanted to thank you for your service. Your work for the resistance is much appreciated."

Philby managed a smile. "Thank you sir." It's not every day the local rebel commander gives you a compliment.

"Now, if I were you I'd head back to your apartment. If I recall, you've got some packing to do."

Philby's expression turned sour. "How did you hear?"

"It's all around camp. Rumor has it you might have been reported as well. Especially after today's actions."

Philby took a deep breath and hung his head. "I figured that would happen. I…I just couldn't let you go without a doctor. It wouldn't be fair to you or the cause."

"And I thank you for your sacrifice, doctor." The rebel commander sat down in his chair behind the desk. "But you've got quite a problem on your hands. Sometimes you've got to take care of yourself first."

"I'll just leave for the 7th in the morning, before they can come get me." Philby reassured the commander.

"I don't think you'll have that luxury."

"What do you mean?"

"They've already issued a warrant for you."

"What?" Philby was too stunned to say anything.

The commander picked up a paper on his desk and offered it to Philby. "See for yourself."

"No," Philby waved off the paper. "I believe you, sir."

"You're going to have to go in, I'm afraid." The commander folded up Philby's arrest warrant and tucked it into one of the desk's many drawers.

Philby gulped. He didn't think he could pass the polygraph test without giving away some information about the resistance. He would most likely be sent to the provincial jail, only to be followed by all of the rebels here in the 2nd province.

"Don't you worry, doctor, we've got a man on the inside. He'll go easy on you. You'll be let go."

"You have a guy on the inside? I'll be _let…go?_"

"Yes and yes." The commander relaxed in his chair, as if this conversation bored him. "You'll go through the standard polygraph questioning and they'll search your house, but that's it. No overnight stay."

The commander shivered when mentioning the overnight stay. Philby's curiosity won out.

"Sir, do you know what the overnight stay consists of?"

The commander closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, unfortunately I do."

Philby waited for the commander to elaborate. The commander continued in a soft voice, but still had his eyes closed.

"Maleficent wants more than just physical control of the world. She…she wants to use science to her advantage. Those who stay overnight, whether found guilty or not, become…_experiments_."

Philby knew the commander was choosing his words carefully.

"Experiments? What does that mean?"

The commander opened his eyes and studied Philby, as if deciding whether or not he could handle the news.

"Have you ever wondered why there has never been a single attempt at escaping prison since the first three months of Maleficent's reign?"

Philby nodded. It was a strange occurrence, especially with more people in jails since she had taken over. Philby wasn't quite sure _how_ long Maleficent had been in power, as far as he was concerned it was forever, but the commander seemed to remember a time before her. Philby had never had that luxury.

"Have you ever noticed how those who are found innocent during reporting come back…_different_?"

Philby nodded again. He was totally sucked into the conversation at this point.

"And somehow, as if by magic, those same people become model citizens?"

Philby nodded. He knew all of this, but he wasn't sure where the commander was going with it.

"Those _experiments_ are the reasons for the change in behavior and attitude. They're…they're some form of mind control experiments."

"M-m-mind control?" Philby's voice cracked. He never knew such a thing was possible. He knew someone could be brainwashed by propaganda, but complete mind control? Just the mention of such an immoral, unethical thing made him scared out of his mind. But for some reason, he wasn't surprised at all. In the back of his mind, he knew Maleficent wasn't above mind control.

"Yes. I haven't quite figured out how she does it these days, but that's what most of the government labs have been working on—cheap, efficient ways of mind control."

"And how would you know this?"

The commander glanced down at his desk and straightened a pencil. "I used to be a scientist in one of the labs before I joined the resistance. I know how they _used_ to do mind control, but they're always updating their methods."

"And did it ever work?"

"Yes, unfortunately it did."

Philby's mind was buzzing. "How does...did it work?"

"Back when I was a scientist, at least twenty years ago, it required the person drinking a liquid filled with little bugs—not like the insect, more like mini computers. These bugs would latch themselves to certain parts of the brain and was completely harmless to the person. Once attached, the person could be controlled from a computer, if Maleficent decided this person needed to be controlled. It's like turning an on switch on a light bulb. Once the computer took over, the person wouldn't be able to think or act for themselves. But we never turned it on. Mostly we used it for something else, if we used it at all. The bugs…they would slowly feed pro-government ideas to the person. Eventually the person would believe those thoughts and ideas were their own. Any anti-government thoughts were erased from memory, basically creating the model citizen. That's her form of brainwashing...making it all think its your idea."

The commander stopped suddenly as if saying anymore would drive him—or Philby—insane. Philby wasn't surprised at one bit of it. It was almost as if he already knew that Maleficent brainwashed people—another weird thought Philby pushed aside.

"And you said that's what they did when you were a scientist? So that means…they've got more advanced ways of doing it now?"

The commander nodded. "I've heard they use something similar to laser eye surgery for her brainwashing now. It's quicker and more efficient."

Philby gulped. He could be going through all this soon. He hoped that he ended up with the rebel soldier in disguise. The last thing he wanted was to be one of Maleficent's brainwashed zombies.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," the commander said. He looked over at Philby and mouthed _don't say a word_.

Philby didn't plan on _ever_ talking about what he had just learned.

The door opened and a young man with brown hair and green eyes walked in. He was dressed in khaki pants and a black sweater, with a black winter coat over it. He had a pistol tucked into his belt. Something about that didn't seem right with Philby. The man nodded at the commander and moved to Philby.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a black envelope, offering it to Philby with a big smile on his face.

"This is for you, doctor. Nice work today, by the way. Saving all those people's lives and stuff."

Philby took the envelope without breaking eye contact with the young man. _He had to be around the same age as me_. Philby could have sworn he had seen him somewhere before.

_Maybe he was one of my patients?_

Philby broke eye contact with him and started to open the envelope.

"No!" The young man called out. He took a shaky breath and composed himself. "That's for you to read in private."

"Uh…okay…" Philby tucked the envelope into his pocket.

The young man took a deep breath, as if he had just defused a bomb. He looked over Philby before turning to the commander.

"Commander, the officers requested you outside."

"Thank you for reminding me." The commander stood up and walked toward the young man. "What's your name, soldier?"

The young man straightened up. "Uh...Daniel Wesley sir."

"Wesley, thank you. Now return to your post. The last thing we need today is for _another_ government force attacking us."

Daniel Wesley saluted to the commander and left the room, glancing once more in Philby's direction before fully exiting the commander's office.

"I've got to go talk to my officers." The commander place a hand on Philby's shoulder. "Be careful doctor. We need you to come back, preferably with the same mind."

Philby knew the commander was joking, but Philby couldn't bring himself to laugh. The black envelope was growing heavy in his pocket. He needed to survive the night, if he could do that, maybe the 7th province wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

**What do y'all think so far? I'd love to hear any suggestions for places you'd like the other keepers to be living or places you'd like to see in the story in general-preferably places around the world that are far away from Vancouver & London. If I can work y'all's suggestions into the story, I will most definitely do it! **

**I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. It's Charlene! :)**


	3. Once Upon A Time

**Thanks for all the great reviews so far! I've had a lot of fun with this story so far, I hope y'all are too!**

**Here's chapter 3! Personally, this is my favorite so far! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 3: Once Upon a Time

March 28, 2358  
Province 4, County 29, Honshu Island  
Mt. Fuji Tourist Center

Charlene glanced over her shoulder, trying to play it cool. She faced forward and took in the beauty of the sight in front of her. Mount Fuji was possibly the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

After being wrongly (and weirdly) accused of witchcraft, Charlene's life had turned upside down—or right side up, depending on which way you looked at her life before January. For the past three months she had been on the run, backpacking across the fourth province. She knew that if she left the province, she'd be fingerprinted, thus giving herself away. She was stuck and she was running out of hiding places.

A cold gust of wind sent goose bumps up Charlene's arm. She rubbed her arms and took a deep breath. The beauty of Mt. Fuji was truly breathtaking. She wished she could stay longer.

Back in Beijing, she had grown up always longing to travel. Every time she opened a geography or history book she felt a desire to travel to the places in the pictures. She wanted to experience life at the fullest.

But then her graduation test crushed that dream. Her results told her she was going to be a businesswoman. But by some odd coincidence, a significant number of girls that year got the same result. When that happens, the best jobs in that field go to the girls with the last name starting with A, the rest of the jobs being delegated out to the rest of the girls in alphabetical order.

By a stroke of bad luck, Charlene Turner had been the last name on the list. She got to work a menial desk job at a huge (and immensely stupid and pointless) advertising business. The job of businesswoman meant no college, so Charlene had been in that job for six never-ending years. But her desire for travel never died.

Charlene walked down the observation deck so that she could get a closer view of the mountain. She walked past a pair of men in tuxedos and couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"Have they found _that_ witch yet?"

He said the word witch with such distaste, making Charlene cringe. She didn't do anything wrong, but the stupid government made everyone believe that she was this evil demon.

"Not sure," the second man shrugged. "I'm sure they'll find her soon."

"They're going to have to use the methods on her surely."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Maleficent herself came to watch! That witch is such a nuisance to the province, I'm sure she's _already_ caught the dictator's eye."

Charlene continued walking. She had heard _more_ than enough. It didn't matter that she had died her blonde hair brown. It didn't matter that she was wearing brown contacts to cover her blue eyes. Charlene still felt as if people could still recognize her.

It's not that Charlene was a witch, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She had been working the graveyard shift at work one night trying to finish some paperwork for her boss. She left at four in the morning and started walking back to her apartment.

Another disappointment of her job was that she didn't earn enough to own a car. She had to walk everywhere. Beijing at night was creepy. Charlene jumped at every noise.

That particular January night, she walked in on a robbery. Not just any robbery, but a someone robbing a soldier.

She wasn't necessarily loyal to the government, especially after her graduation test, but seeing someone getting robbed was _not_ something she was going to let slide.

She walked over to the robbery in progress and punched the robber in the face. She turned to help the soldier up, when the robber jumped on her back.

Charlene grabbed the robber's hand and judo-flipped him over her back. There was a sickening _THUD!_ The robber's eyes rolled back in his head, but wasn't dead. Charlene turned to help the soldier up again, but he was already standing.

He had a huge gash on his forehead and he was shaking profusely. His face was pale. His eyes were wide with shock, but Charlene saw something else there: fear.

"Y-y-you just killed him."

"No I didn't," Charlene insisted. "I just flipped him over my back. He was trying to kill _you!_"

"Flipped? Is that what you call it, witch?" He took a few steps backward. "Witchcraft!"

"What?" Charlene had never felt so confused in her life. _What did he see? He must have hit his head _very_ hard._

"Witchcraft! You'll be executed for this!"

"_What_?"

The soldier turned and stumbled away from her.

Charlene shook the memory out of her mind. She continued walking at a normal speed, so that she didn't draw suspicion to herself. She was still confused as to what the soldier thought she did to assume she was a witch.

She readjusted her sunglasses and moved past a few ancient binocular stands. According to the plaque, they were placed there so people could get a better view of the mountain from far away. Now they were just ancient artifacts that no one was allowed to touch. Charlene wanted nothing more than to use one of them, but that would draw too much attention to herself.

The fact that those men in tuxedos were talking about her had shaken her pretty good, but the mentioning of the methods scared her down to her core. She had heard stories of the methods—none of them were even remotely good.

_Maybe the stories are worse than the actual thing,_ Charlene reassured herself. It wasn't working too well.

The methods was only the worst form of punishment, something so insane and immoral Charlene couldn't even bring herself to think about it. She pushed that thought out of her mind. She would worry about that _if_ she got caught.

_That's good thinking, Charlene. If, if is good._

Charlene reached the steps that led from the observation deck down to the base of the mountain. She made the mistake of glancing back and making eye contact with the two men in tuxedos.

She saw their glowing green eyes and Charlene thought she was going to have a heart attack. They were Maleficent's soldiers. Not just any kind of soldiers...but the special agents. They were they were the global force that Maleficent _personally_ hired.

How did she not see the glowing green eyes before?

Charlene saw them take a step toward her and she took off down the steps. She moved in and out of the people with such ease she wondered if she had been meant to be on the run.

She reached the bottom of the staircase and took off running toward the parking lot. She needed to get a car _now_. She didn't have her own, but she _did_ know how to hot-wire a car.

She glanced behind her without slowing down and saw the men in tuxedos were about halfway down the stairs. Charlene turned her head back so that she could see the direction in which she was running and slammed into someone, throwing both of them onto the ground.

Charlene was lying on top of this person—a young man with brown hair. She took one glance into his non-glowing green eyes and her mind took her to another place.

_"We did, Philby agreed. "But the parks are close to each other. She can transfigure herself into a bird. I'm not saying she's in two places at once. I'm just saying Wayne wants us over at Fantasmic!"_

_"Not before we find him."_

_"We may not have a choice on that," Philby said. "What if we don't find him here?"_

_"We will," said Finn._

_"If only we could go back in time, we could have rescued him from Wonders."_

_Charlene's comment stopped Finn cold. For a moment he faced her as if in a trance. Then he took her by the shoulders and all three of them thought Finn was about to kiss her. Charlene looked terrified; Philby looked surprised; Finn looked out of it._

_"We blew it!" Finn said. _

_"You don't have to sound so excited about it," Philby said. Then he added, "Blew what, exactly?"_

_"'Go back in time.' Charlene just said: 'Go back in time.'" He still held her shoulders; she still looked panicked. _

_"Yeah? So what?" Philby said. _

_Charlene was speechless. She turned her cheek toward Finn so that at least if he tried to kiss her it wouldn't be on the lips. But she didn't push him away, and she would later secretly wonder why not._

_"Think about Jess' dreams," Finn said, "her visions. What's the one thing we know about them? About when they take place?"_

_"The fut—" Philby said, catching himself. "No way!"_

_"What's going on?" Charlene asked, still bracing herself for the possibility of a kiss._

_Philby answered for Finn. "When we went to Wonders, the writing wasn't on the wall behind the chair. It wasn't exactly like Jess's dream. No Wayne. No words on the wall."_

_"I was there. I know all this."_

_"We were all there. But we were there _too soon_," Finn said. "Wayne hadn't been brought there yet. We got there _ahead_ of Jess's vision. It wasn't that she'd gotten it wrong—" _

_"We were just early," Philby said, completing his thought._

_"So at some point he's still going to end up in that chair?" Charlene said._

_"At some point they start moving him around to keep him hidden," Philby said._

_"Like, for instance," Finn said, "after the Kingdom Keepers cause a car crash at Test Track."_

_"Or discover the maintenance log at Soarin'," Philby said._

_"Or end up on Mission: Space," Charlene added._

_The excitement sparked between them. Finn finally released Charlene's shoulders, apologizing, and she quietly sighted in relief._

Charlene blinked and she saw that she was still on top of the young man.

"Uh…sorry…" Charlene scrambled to get up. The young man stood up and grabbed her arm, keeping her close.

"I've got to go, I'm sorry," Charlene tried her hardest to rip her arm away from his grasp, but was unsuccessful.

The green eyes were unsettling to her. He was in that short flashback she had just had. But she had never seen him or the other boy before. _Did I just experience magic?_ _Is _he_ a witch?__  
_

"Look, kid, I've got to run," she muttered under her breath.

The man was studying her. He reached into his jacket with his other hand and pulled out a black envelope and a pair of keys.

"Take these," he insisted. "The keys go to the blue compact car in front. An innocent person like you doesn't need to start breaking laws now."

"Do I know you?" Charlene asked as she took the black envelope and the keys from the mysterious man.

He sighed. To Charlene he seemed conflicted, as if that question was the one he wanted her to ask, but he wasn't allowed to give her the answer.

"Maybe you did...once upon a time." He let go of her arm. He had a sad look in his eyes, as if he _wanted_ her to remember him. "Read the letter inside when you're alone."

Charlene mouthed a thank you to him and took off toward the parking lot. Sure enough she found a blue compact car in the front row. She fumbled with the keys, got into the car and sped off. She flew onto the highway at top speed and made a plan of action in her head. She needed to get as far away as possible. She was running out of places to hide in the fourth province. She needed a way to leave.

And she needed to figure out what the heck had just happened.

* * *

**First off, I have to credit the quote to Kingdom keepers 3: Disney In Shadow (pages 399-401).**

**And I got to use my favorite line from Hercules, "if, if is good." Score one for me :P**

**Just a quick side not to** that-kk-fangirl, **I know you requested Charlene to be in Paris. I already had this chapter written and I already have one of the other keepers near there. I didn't want two of them to be that close. I'll keep it in mind, though, and try to use it later! Thanks for the request :)**

**For everybody else: any ideas on why Charlene's had flashbacks to her real life and none of the others haven't? What's in the black envelope? Any ideas?**

**I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Please review!**


	4. They Said

**Thanks for all of the great reviews so far! I hope y'all enjoy this one as much as the last 3 :)**

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Chapter 4: They Said

April 11, 2358  
Province 6, County 20, Turkey  
Streets of Istanbul

Maybeck looked out of the police car window, watching the civilians on the street. Most were scurrying along, trying not to make any trouble. The last thing anyone wanted was to be caught by the police or to make a scene, especially with the rebel threat growing.

Normally while on stake-outs, Maybeck never zoned in on people in general, but this young man was an exception.

He was wearing a pair of jeans, despite the sweltering heat, and a purple t-shirt. He was reading a book, but occasionally looking up, as if waiting for someone. Maybeck could tell the book was just a stall tactic for the kid. On his purple t-shirt was the name of the closest university, right on the edge of the province—on the beach of Yemen, over a day's worth of travel away. Nobody from Istanbul went to the university _and returned,_ which immediately brought on suspicion.

The college student had brown hair and green eyes. He seemed nervous as he sat on the steps of apartment 18F, which sent up red flags in Maybeck's mind. He tapped his foot rapidly on the stone steps, his eyes searching the crowd. The student's eyes locked with Maybeck's and the hair on the back of Maybeck's neck stood up.

Maybeck shook the strange feeling out of his mind. He blinked and the college student was gone.

"So how was your date last night?"

Maybeck snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his partner, Adam Washington.

"Uh…oh...it was...eh," Maybeck shrugged.

Washington, as he preferred to be called, took a sip of his coffee. The morning shift was rough on both of them. "You didn't like her?"

Maybeck shrugged, glancing out the window again. "We just didn't click. That's all."

"Man you're hopeless! I've been trying to hook you up for years and you hate every single girl I find! Soon I'm going to run out of girls to hook you up with! You'll be alone forever!"

Maybeck rolled his eyes and turned to Washington. "When I find the right girl, I'll marry her."

"What kind of girl is the 'right girl?'"

Maybeck closed his eyes and pictured his perfect girl, the one that had been in his dreams for the past few months. "Athletic, sarcastic, beautiful..."

He trailed off, not wanting to get too specific. There was a specific girl that he wanted. In his dreams, she didn't have a name. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He felt as if he knew her, but he couldn't remember how.

"Dude, you've got some weird standards."

"I...I just...haven't found _her_ yet. Maybe she's not in this province." Maybeck hoped that Washington wouldn't notice the emphasis on the word "her." He didn't want to explain the crazy dreams he'd been having since January.

"Dude, you know we can't leave the province without _her_ permission…"

Maybeck scoffed and waved off his comment. "I'm a police officer. I can do what I want."

Before Washington could remind him of the rules and how they needed to be "model citizens" and all of that crap, someone called in on the radio.

"We've got a thief running toward apartment block 18. Anyone nearby?"

"That's us!" Maybeck radioed in, informing the station that they were right at block 18. Washington turned around and saw the thief running toward them with a huge bundle thrown over his shoulder. Washington turned on the siren as Maybeck put the car into drive.

Maybeck revved the engine and pressed the gas pedal so hard he felt he might have broken it. The police car sped off down the street. At the last second, Maybeck pulled the parking brake up and placed his foot on the brake, drifting the police car into the street. The car stopped perpendicular to the flow of traffic, cutting the thief off.

Maybeck propped open his door and held out his gun.

"Police! Stop running!"

The thief ran into the crowd of people frozen on the sidewalks and weaved through them. Maybeck lowered his gun, knowing he couldn't shoot innocent civilians.

"Oh, come on!" Maybeck added a few curse words as he watched the man run away from the police car.

His partner picked up his radio and started yelling into it. "We've got a 5-0-3 in progress in the apartment sector! All nearby and available units requested for action!"

Maybeck burst out of the car, slamming the door shut, and took off running down the street—gun in hand ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

The runner took off down the street, making a last second turn onto the street between apartment blocks 6 and 7.

Maybeck picked up his speed and raced after him. He knew his partner wasn't far behind, in case something happened.

The thief glanced over his shoulder and started to run harder when he realized the two police officers were gaining speed.

The thief took another hard left and ran down the street behind apartment block 6. Maybeck suddenly realized where he was headed. Nobody took that street except...

"Washington!" Maybeck called back to his partner. "I'm going to cut him off over there," he pointed straight ahead.

Washington nodded and turned down the street after the runner. His head was already beating with sweat, and Maybeck knew he couldn't catch up to the runner.

He would be using that to his advantage.

Maybeck continued to run until he got to the street behind apartment block 12, three blocks directly behind block 6. He turned left and slowed his pace, so that his footsteps wouldn't be heard. He slowed his step to a walk when he got to the end of the street. After this, there was an intersection similar to the one he had just run down.

Actually it was similar to _all_ of the intersections in the apartment sector of the _all_ of the cities across the globe.

_Talk about conformity._

He held his gun out in front of him and stepped out into the intersection, this one wasn't nearly as crowded as the last. One person walking by saw Maybeck and ran in the other direction, leaving him alone on the street for as far as he could see.

He took a step in the direction of the street where he had left Washington and the runner. The thief stumbled out into the intersection, but didn't notice Maybeck yet.

The thief doubled over and took a few heavy breaths. He glanced in Maybeck's direction and froze, gripping his bag of stolen goods tighter.

Maybeck noticed the thief's sleeves were rolled up, revealing a tattoo on his arm—the tattoo all rebels in the 6th province got upon initiation.

Maybeck threw up a peace sign, signaling that he was a rebel too. The thief seemed to relax a little. Maybeck took a step closer, his gun still loaded and aimed at the runner—just in case.

The runner returned the peace sign after taking a few breaths and straightened up.

"Can I make it to 5C before your partner shows up?" The runner asked in a whisper.

Maybeck nodded. He lowered his gun to the pavement and fired a shot. He shooed his fellow rebel away, so that he could make it to the rebel base before Washington could see.

He fired another shot, again at the pavement, and took a deep breath. It was getting harder and harder to help out the rebel cause. The idiots kept getting caught, and Maybeck would have to do overtime to make sure they didn't go to jail or get reported.

_You'll be a valuable asset to the resistance,_ they said. _This won't be a burden, we'll make sure of it, _they said.

Maybeck straightened up when Washington came crashing through into the intersection.

"I heard gun shots, did you get him?"

"I think so. He ran off, but he's probably dead."

Washington continued to catch his breath. Maybeck wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation. Washington was in the same position that the thief had been in only seconds earlier. "Okay, good work Maybeck."

"Thanks," Maybeck clapped him on the back. "Let's head back. I'm hungry."

"Okay," Washington started heading back down the street in which he had just came from. "Should we send a squadron to find the dead man?"

"No," Maybeck tried to act cool. The last thing he wanted was for Washington to get suspicious of him. "He's dead. I shot him in the chest and he stumbled out of the intersection. Don't worry about it."

"Alright man." Washington was still taking heavy breaths. Maybeck wasn't sure how he made it through basic training and the academy. The kid was out of breath just walking up more than two flights of stairs. "Let's go to get some donuts, I'm starving."

Maybeck patted Washington on the back. "Sure thing, but you're buying."

Washington sighed and called off the reinforcements with his radio. They piled into the police car and drove to the closest coffee shop.

While Washington ordered, Maybeck used the restroom. He walked out of the door and took one step into the dining room, crashing into a random civilian. The coffee he had been holding spilled down Maybeck's shirt.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" The young man stared at Maybeck as if he would melt.

"It's fine," Maybeck mumbled while staring at his shirt. He looked up at who had run into him and his eyes went wide—it was the same college student he had seen earlier.

The young man pulled out a napkin from his back pocket and started to clean the stain as well as he could. Maybeck looked him in the eye with a scowl and his mind took him to another place.

_Maleficent threw a transfiguration spell. The snake became a harmless length of rope, and she caught it with her free hand._

_Tia Dalma strode up behind Maleficent._

_"How you feel now, me boy? Eh?" She stuck the doll with a pin._

_Maybeck twisted, moving in inhuman ways that seemed sure to break his limbs._

_"Stop it!" Storey shouted._

_"Now?" Tia Dalma said, delivering more of her voodoo._

_Maybeck folded backward, screaming. Storey feared the next pin would break him in half._

_"Run out of fire, old lady?" A girl's voice echoed through the cave._

_"Charlie?" a tortured Maybeck whispered._

_Charlene dropped through a ceiling hole in the next room, sticking a perfect landing. Irate, Maleficent wound up and threw the fireball in Charlene's direction. Charlene cartwheeled. The fireball missed and ricocheted off the cave's ceiling in a shower of sparks._

His vision flashed forward, as if someone hit the fast forward button on a DVD. After a few seconds, his mind hit play.

_The kids headed for the street and Maybeck's taxi._

_"Where did you come from?" Maybeck asked Charlene. Looking at her, he couldn't help the huge smile breaking out on his face._

_"My first cave was no good, but my driver recognized the sketch. Sorry I was late."_

_"Me too."_

Maybeck took a shaky breath and focused back in on the college student in front of him.

"You," Maybeck pointed at him, his finger shaking. "You…I…I know you. You were watching me over by apartment block 18!"

"Here," the young man handed him the rest of the napkins, completely ignoring Maybeck's comment. "Take these. I got some of it out, but you're going to have to wash that shirt to get the stain out completely."

Maybeck eyed him, something about his brown hair and green eyes seemed familiar—a feeling deeper than just seeing the student five minutes ago. He shook the feeling away and hesitantly took the napkins. If he didn't know any better, Maybeck would say that the man had intended on spilling coffee on him.

"Thanks," he grabbed the napkins and felt something much harder in between two of them. Maybeck eyed the young man. "What's this?" He motioned to the black envelope sticking out from in between two napkins.

"It's for you, Maybeck."

"How do you know my name?"

The student froze and for a brief second he looked scared beyond belief. He composed himself and pointed at uniform.

"It's on your uniform."

Maybeck didn't break eye contact with the young man. _This guy knows me, but how do I know him? _Maybeck took a step closer to the young man and lowered his voice.

"What's in this letter? A bomb?"

The young man threw up his hands, as to say _Whoa, bro!_ "It's just a letter, man. Chill."

"And what's in this letter?"

"That's for you to read and find out. If I told you, there'd be no point in handing you the letter, now would there?"

Maybeck studied him, a gesture in which the young man returned.

"What's your name?"

"You'll see sooner or later. Read it when you're alone." The young man pushed past him and headed out of the coffee shop.

Maybeck stood still and watch him leave. He couldn't help but wonder what had just happened. But the thing that was confusing him the most was the blonde girl who had saved him in that flashback of his. She was the same girl from his dreams the past few months.

Who was she? How did he know her? What was her name? And more importantly, why did he have all of these sudden feelings towards her? How come he felt as if he was in love with her, even though he had never met her before? How come something about her beauty was so breathtaking and heartbreaking at the same time? Did she break his heart?

_No, I don't know her...Or do I?_

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**The flashback quote comes from Kingdom Keepers 6: Dark Passage (p. 163-5).**

**Hmm...so Maybeck is seeing flashbacks too? But not just that...he's starting to remember old feelings for Charlene. Hmm...interesting...**

**I hope y'all are liking this story as much as me, because I LOVE it. I'll be doing my best to finish "Born For The Sunrise, We'll Survive The Pain" and "Whodunnit" before updating this one again. It's harder for me to update this story as fast as I usually do because I need the books to find the quotes for the flashbacks. Unfortunately I don't have them with me here at all times, but I will do my best!**

**Please review and enjoy the rest of your week!**


	5. The Small Blue Flame

**Wow guys, it's been a while! I hope this lovely chapter makes up for it! **

**Oh and a side note for **her-eyes-fiery-pinpricks**: I LOVE REVOLUTION! It's one of my favorite TV shows!**

**Without further adieu, I present chapter 5!**

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Chapter 5: The Small Blue Flame

May 1, 2358  
Province 12, County 5, Argentina  
Buenos Aires Apartment Sector 98

As Willa slowed her car down for the red light, she realized she couldn't feel the tips of her fingers. She glanced down and noticed that she had been gripping the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles had almost turned white. She hesitated before relinquishing her grip. She took a deep breath and placed her hands in her lap.

She glanced up at the red light and tapped her left foot as she waited for it to turn green.

_Green_, Willa felt a chill run up her spine, _I hate that color._

Willa pushed the thought out of her mind. The last thing she wanted was to think about work today. She didn't want to think about the long hours slaving away over that _stupid_ nuclear weapon that the _stupid_ dictator wants for no _stupid_ reason. She didn't want to think about how she risks her life every day when she gets within 20 miles of the government lab in Buenos Aires. She didn't want to think about how she didn't choose this life—it was chosen for her. She didn't want to think about how awful her husband was.

But she did want to think about her beautiful eight-month old daughter, Lizzie. She was the only reason Willa hadn't gone crazy yet.

The light turned green and Willa hit the gas petal, finishing her journey home.

She pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. For some odd reason, her husband's car wasn't in there. Once she had parked the car and turned it off, she noticed a note taped to the front door.

She took it off and read it.

_Wills—_

Willa rolled her eyes. She _hated_ that nickname.

_I'm going out with the boys tonight. Probably be back tomorrow. I got a babysitter for the baby. I promised him $150. _

_—Spencer_

Willa crumbled up the note and threw it on the ground in frustration. Sometimes she really, _really_ hated her husband. He wasn't supposed to go out on weekdays. That was their deal.

But of course, he always did what he wanted. And he knew that there was nothing she could do about it. _Stupid "no_ _divorce" law._

Willa blamed a lot of people for her situation: her parents, the ridiculous government, Spencer, everyone. But more than anything, she blamed herself. She could have searched harder for a way out of this arranged marriage. She could have done something, _anything_, but she didn't.

She unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The first sound she heard was the television.

_What kind of babysitter watches television while with a baby?_

Willa stormed into the living room—ready to give the babysitter an earful—and saw a young man with brown hair and green eyes sitting on the couch. When he noticed Willa, he turned and gave her a smile.

Something about him seemed familiar. _Had he babysat for her before?_

"Uh…where's my daughter?" She asked him.

"Oh," the young man picked up the remote and muted the television. He turned to face her. "She fell asleep about an hour ago. I decided watching her while she slept would be very weird, so I came in here." He motioned to the television. "Nice living room, by the way. You must be very rich."

Willa shrugged. "This is all my husband's stuff. All he does is watch football and play video games."

The young man nodded solemnly. "He seemed like that kind of guy."

Based off of his tone of voice, he didn't seem to like "that kind of guy"—whatever that meant.

"I'm Willa, by the way." Willa extended her hand to the young man. "Sorry about any inconveniences my daughter or husband might have caused you today."

"Name's Daniel," the young man said as he shook her hand. "And your daughter was no trouble at all. She's a sweetheart. Your husband…he…is uh…interesting."

Willa let out a laugh. "That's about the nicest thing you can say about him."

She sat down on the couch next to Daniel. "What are you watching?"

"Oh!" He perked up and turned up the television. "I got bored, so I found this royal gossip channel. It sounded dumb, but it's actually interesting."

Willa gave him a strange look. "Why is it interesting? The royal family is boring."

"The 11th province has this crazy stupid prince, Prince Greg," Daniel glanced her way. The gleam in his eyes screamed mischief, but she loved it. Something about that mischievous look seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"What's Prince Greg doing to make the royal gossip channel?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, okay." Daniel's eyes lit up, as if he hadn't had a decent conversation with someone in a long time. "So, the wise guy supposedly…"

Daniel pointed to the television and started filling her in on the latest royal news. After pointing, his hand grazed hers and her mind went to another place and time.

_Finn and Willa reboarded to the ship after Philby, but before the others While Philby returned to his stateroom to review the ship's security video for Luowski and the stolen computer, Finn and Willa watched for their friends on the dock over the stern rails of Cabanas restaurant._

_"Have you kissed her yet?" Willa asked._

_"W…H…A…T…?" Finn's face drained of color._

_"Amanda." Willa was trying so hard not to laugh at his reaction to her question. "Have you guys kissed?"_

_His shoulders slumped. "We barely even talk anymore." He was silent for a second before snapping his attention back to her, his expression filled with anger. "Why are you asking me this?"_

_Willa shrugged. "Conversation breaks the tension. We all need conversation."_

_"You need your head examined," Finn retorted._

_"It's a simple enough question. Have you kissed her?"_

_"Yeah, I guess so."_

_"You _guess_!? Was it that bad? Seriously?"_

_"I didn't say it was bad." Willa could tell that Finn was considering jumping over the rail. The fact that she could make him this uncomfortable just by asking a simple question made her want to laugh, but she suppressed it for his sake._

_"You don't sound too impressed."_

_"I've kissed her. Okay, Willa?"_

_"It was just _okay_?"_

_"Stop messing with me."_

_"I'm sure it was more than _okay_ for Amanda. Same with Charlene."_

_"What's Charlie got to do with this?"_

_Willa stared at him with a blank expression. "Are you that blind?"_

_"She likes Maybeck."_

_Willa rolled her eyes and stared down at the docks. "You got that right. She _likes_ Maybeck."_

_"Get your head in the game," he said._

_Willa started singing "get'cha head in the game" in her head. "There's one checkpoint, Finn. How difficult is it to watch one checkpoint?"_

_There was a moment of awkward silence. The High School Musical song was still stuck in her head._

_"The silent treatment is killing Amanda," Willa said. "You know that, don't you?"_

_"That's ridiculous. She's barely even spoken to me lately."_

_"What's she supposed to say? 'Hey, Finn, I'm crushing on you big-time, and the way you gawk at Storey and the way you treat me leaves me in tears and unable to sleep at night'? That?"_

_"Oh…come on!" Finn said._

_Willa rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously? Get…a…clue."_

Willa's weird flashback ended and she took a sharp breath. Daniel turned and looked at her with a confused expression.

"Are you okay, Willa?"

Willa took a few breaths and faced him, forcing a smile. "Of course, this…this royal stuff…it's just shocking that's all."

Daniel didn't seem convinced. "Sure…"

Willa rolled her eyes and stood up. "You can leave now, Daniel. I can take it from here."

Daniel stood up too. "Do you need me to come tomorrow? Your husband said he wasn't coming back until then."

Willa raised her eyebrow. She did seem to trust this guy. If he could get her daughter to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time, he's definitely a good babysitter.

"Sure," Willa finally replied. "Do you mind if I pay you tomorrow? I don't have any cash on me at the moment."

"Oh I don't want your cash."

"What?"

"I said I would do it for free."

"That's nonsense, Daniel. I'll pay you what my husband promised you tomorrow."

"He promised me way too much. I don't want it. I've got enough cash to live off of."

Willa studied him. He seemed to have his mind made up. "Fine, if you insist."

"Awesome!" Daniel perked up. "What time should I be here tomorrow?"

"I leave for work at six in the morning, so is 5:30 okay?"

"Five-thirty in the _morning_?"

"Is that too early?"

Daniel's shoulders slumped. "No," he mumbled.

Willa smiled. "Good, I'll see you then."

Daniel nodded and pushed past her, heading for the front door.

At the last minute, he turned around. "Willa?"

Willa turned around and looked at him. "Yes, Daniel?"

He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a black envelope. "This is for you." He walked over and handed it to her. His hand touched hers and her mind was transported to another place for the second time today.

_"That's better, my little ugly duckling," the Queen said. "More details, and I'll keep them off you." _

_Willa collected herself and looked up, intent to meet eyes with the Queen. But what she saw just beyond the Queen nearly stopped her heart: Finn. Her friend Finn, not the Queen's copy of him. He wore all back and was carrying the shimmering blue line that said he'd crossed over. Finn, who'd come to rescue her._

_The Evil Queen caught Willa's eye movement and without looking behind her, made a sweeping, surprisingly graceful motion toward Finn, her lips moving, but making no sound. Whatever she had expected to happen to him did not. The blue line around Finn's DHI shimmered, though only slightly—he was only part hologram. He rushed Willa, lowered his shoulder, and hit her like a football tackle, throwing her onto his shoulder. He took off at a run._

_Spiders raced up his back, Willa brushing them off furiously. She looked down: the stream of spiders had stretched into long black line like a…_

_Snake._

_Gigabyte, the twenty-foot python, was a matter of yards behind Finn. The vultures flew on either side of him._

_Back at Gigabyte's tail, the remaining spiders turned into rattlesnakes._

_"Finn…" Willa gasped, laying atop his shoulder. "Snakes."_

_The rattlesnakes moved faster than the giant python._

_"Finn?" she said._

_He could feel himself slowing down—the more frightened she became, the heavier she was to carry._

_"Don't…look!"_

Willa snapped back to attention.

"You sure you're okay?" Daniel asked her in a caring voice. "Maybe you should go take a nap. I can stay and watch Lizzie if you—"

"No!" Willa didn't mean to shout, but she had. She knew immediately her harsh tone had hurt Daniel's feelings.

"Okay!" He threw up his hands in defeat. "Just read the letter when I'm gone, and make sure that nobody finds it."

Willa eyed him suspiciously. "Okay."

"I'll see you tomorrow at five-thirty then," Daniel said with a smile. She could tell that he didn't want to be up that early, but she was glad that he was. She was looking forward to seeing him.

She was the nicest person she had met in a _long_ time. Of course she wanted him to come back. _He looks just like that Finn guy from those weird flashes I've been having today_, she thought to herself as he walked out of the front door.

She sat back down on the couch and turned off the television. She waited to hear her daughter cry or make some kind of noise, but all she heard was silence.

Willa was so glad to hear silence in her home. It was almost never this way.

She opened the black envelope and pulled out a letter. The red ink faded into the piece of notebook paper. It had obviously been written a long time ago. The handwriting was a little sloppy, but still legible.

Willa held it a little closer to her face so that she could read the small font.

_Don't tell anyone where you're going or why. If you do it'll ruin _everything_. I may have seemed familiar. I can tell you who I really am and how we know each other. Meet me in Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US on October 1__st__ no later than one in the morning. (Yes, I know that's the forbidden district, it's the only safe place for us to talk). Meet me in front of the castle. Come alone and don't be late. _

Willa stared at the letter. The forbidden district? She had a vague memory of reading about that once in school. She had never seen any pictures of it, so she didn't know what to look for when she got there, but at least she knew there was a castle—for that was where she would be meeting Daniel.

She was right to sense the familiarity of Daniel's face. Why did he look just like Finn from those flashes?

He knew her, but he wouldn't explain until October 1st. Why then? Why not now?

_There must be others meeting us_, she concluded.

Were the others also people that she knew? Why was the forbidden district the only safe place? Everyone knew of secret hiding spots within the provinces. This must be a top-secret meeting.

Willa picked up the letter and the envelope and walked into the kitchen. She turned on the oven and watched as a small blue flame ignited. She placed the letter back in the envelope and held it as the flames caught the edge.

She watched as the flames slowly consumed the envelope, causing it to crumble to ashes. At the last possible second, Willa let go of the envelope and threw the rest into the trashcan, so that she wouldn't get burned.

She stood there, watching the small blue flame. Something about it was so calming. It blew her mind that something that looked so beautiful and wonderful could be so destructive.

She shook the strange thoughts out of her head and started thinking about the more pressing issue.

She had five months to find a way to get to the forbidden district undetected. Willa took a deep breath, turned off the stove, and headed to her bedroom.

She had a trip to plan.

* * *

**1st quote: Kingdom Keepers 6: Dark Passage, p. 167-9 (paraphrased for Willa's POV)**

**2nd quote: Kingdom Keepers 4: Power Play, p. 237-8**

**I also don't own any rights to High School Musical, just so you know.**

**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I know it's short, but I still had fun with it. The next chapter is Amanda..and boy it's going to be good! :) Please review! Let me know what you think! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Have a wonderful week!**


	6. Twins

**Thanks for all the great reviews so far! I y'all like this chapter as much as the others!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Twins

April 30, 2358  
Province 1, County 1, Iberian Peninsula  
Royal Palace—Barcelona

"You look beautiful tonight Your Highness."

Amanda gave the young man a regal smile. She didn't want to show the giddy on her face. _I am_ _the queen on the first province, after all_. Just because the handsome prince from the 5th province complimented her, doesn't mean she needs to melt down and lose her integrity.

"Why thank you, Prince Will."

"Oh, please," the prince reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. "Call me Will."

Butterflies swarmed in her stomach at his touch. "Of course."

The butler brought in their food and they began their meal in silence. This was the third time she had invited a potential spouse into her castle since her husband had died four years ago. It had been so long since that tragic day. Amanda was beginning to have trouble remembering what he looked like, what he smelled like, his favorite color…all now just memories slowly fading away into the back of her mind's abyss.

Ever since she fell in love with her late husband twelve years ago, Amanda's life had been anything but normal. She had grown up just a mere shopkeeper's daughter in the 8th province, destined to sell jewelry to the rich and famous for the rest of eternity.

But then right after she turned thirteen, the future king of the first province ran away during a tour of the 8th province and found himself in her father's shop. She could still remember that day like it was yesterday.

_A young man burst into the shop, immediately diving behind the counter, knocking Amanda over in the process._

_He placed a hand on her mouth, so that she could not scream, and whispered. "Just a few seconds longer."_

_After about five seconds, he got up slowly, checking to see if he had been followed. She shut the door and propped the "closed" sign in the window. She shut the blinds and turned to the intruder._

_"What are you doing here?" She scolded him in hushed tones._

_The young man turned around, looked her over quickly and a wily grin grew on his face. He had short-trimmed brown hair and sparkling green eyes. At this point in his life, he was two or three inches shorter than her. He walked over to her and extended a hand for her to shake._

_"My name's Finnegan, but I prefer to be called Finn."_

_Amanda hesitated before shaking his hand. "I'm Amanda, aren't you—"_

_"The prince of the 1__st__ province?" Finn's gaze lingered on the floor. It was almost as if he was ashamed of his title. "Unfortunately, yes."_

_"Unfortunately?" She laughed. "Do you think your life is _hard_?"_

_"No, I love being the prince. It's awesome and all," his eyes met hers. She could see the hurt and loneliness lingering behind those shining green eyes. "But my parents are trying to get me to marry some random princess."_

_"What's so wrong with that? Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"_

_"Yes, but all of the princesses I've met are stuck up and annoying. I'd rather marry a girl that I actually care about."_

_"Oh," Amanda glanced behind her, making sure her father wasn't there. She turned around and looked back at the prince standing in front of her. "So what are you doing here exactly?"_

_Finn shrugged. "I needed some time away from all that royal stuff."_

_Amanda gave him a wily grin. "Well then, Finn, you've come to the right place."_

Finn had only been with her for five hours, but she was already in love with him. Before he left, he gave her an address, asking her to write to him. Over the next three years, they wrote letters back and forth. When she was sixteen, he invited her to the first province to meet his parents. Despite what her father said, she went anyway.

After meeting his parents, he proposed. Amanda never went back to the eighth province. They had been married for four wonderful years before he had been poisoned.

Amanda wasn't one to assign blames, but she had a strong feeling it was Maleficent that had ordered his death. Finn always tried to find ways to get around her ridiculous rules. Every time she visited, he made sure to make her feel unwelcome. She didn't like the fact that he had married Amanda. Ever since his death four years ago, Maleficent had let Amanda keep her role as queen, but she had made her life miserable.

Will coughed, bringing Amanda out of her thoughts. "You must miss your late husband very much."

He glanced her way and she knew that he was only making small talk. She tried not to let her disappointment show on her face. She knew that in that moment that Will was just another suitor after the power, not after her heart.

Amanda straightened up, so that she would look more regal and distinguished. "I do. We loved each other very much."

"He was a very good king for your province. It is a tragedy that he died so young without an heir."

Amanda knew where this conversation was going. Maybe Will was too nice to say it, but she knew that he was thinking the same thing that her father had been nagging her about for the past eight years. Finn and Amanda had decided not to have children until they were both twenty. At the time of his death, they were trying to have a child, but with no luck so far. Most kings and queens have children within nine months of marriage, but Finn didn't want to rush her into becoming a mother. He believed that she could be a great queen—a leader, someone the people could look up to. That was one of the many things she loved about him.

Now that she was left to rule the kingdom by herself, she wished she had paid more attention to his quick lessons he would try to sneak in every once in a while.

"We married young," Amanda said cautiously. "We were too young to be parents."

Before Will could reply, a messenger walked into the room and handed Amanda a letter.

"For you, Your Majesty. Maleficent has asked for you to read it immediately."

"Oh, alright," Amanda turned the letter over so that she could break the seal.

"NO!" The messenger cried out. "She asked for you to read it in private, Your Majesty."

"Oh," Amanda stood up. "I'm sorry Will, you'll have to excuse me. Maybe we can continue this dinner at another time."

Will stood up and bowed to her. "Of course, Your Highness."

Amanda waited for Will to leave the room before she headed to her bedroom. She walked in and sat down on the edge of her bed. She opened the letter and took a deep breath.

_It has been four years since your husband's_ tragic _death_._ Prince Greg from the 11__th__ province is to come and be your husband. You two shall be married by Christmas. _

_—Maleficent _

Amanda took a deep breath to hold back the tears. _Queens don't cry, _she scolded herself.

She wasn't sure how long she was staring at the floor, trying not to cry, before someone knocked on the door quietly.

"Come in," Amanda croaked out.

The door opened and a young man who was the striking image of her late husband. He stepped in and closed the door quietly behind him.

Amanda's eyes were wide. She knew her jaw was hanging wide open—very unladylike.

"Y-y-you!" Amanda let the tears fall as she pointed at the man with a shaky finger. "You look just like Finn!"

The young man took a step back in shock, as if he didn't want to be recognized. He composed himself and stepped forward, bowing to her.

"Your Majesty," he straightened up and pulled out a black envelope from his coat. "This is for you."

Amanda took the envelope without breaking eye contact with the young man. "What's your name?"

"Daniel Wesley, Your Majesty." A small smile grew on his face. _He looks just like Finn,_ Amanda thought to herself. _That's impossible though_, _he's been dead for four years._

"Daniel, hmm…" Amanda glanced down at the envelope. She tried her hardest not to burst into tears at the thought of her late husband.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Daniel walked up to her and knelt at her feet. "You seem upset."

Amanda glanced up at Daniel. She wanted to believe he was her late husband. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But this was Daniel, not Finn. He's just a mere look-a-like.

She looked into his eyes and saw the same caring look that Finn used to give her when she was upset.

A weak smile grew on Amanda's face. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

He placed a hand on her knee. "No, I wouldn't Your Majesty."

Amanda stared down at his hand on her knee. She was shocked that the young man had dared to touch her. Most people won't get within five feet of her—one of the things she hated about being queen.

Daniel followed her gaze and took his hand back. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

Amanda looked back up at his face, his beautiful face. "You look just like my dead husband."

His face twisted with confusion. "I do?"

"Yes," Amanda stood up and grabbed the picture of her and her husband on her bedside table. She walked back over to Daniel, who was now standing, and handed it to him. "His name was Finn. He died four years ago."

Daniel's eyes went wide as he stared down at the picture. "He…I…and…oh…I can see your confusion."

Amanda took back the picture and returned it to the bedside table. She picked up the envelope. "Who sent this?"

She began to open it, but Daniel laid her hand on top of hers, stopping her.

"Not yet, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Amanda."

He smiled at her and grabbed her hand, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her hand. "As you wish."

Daniel backed out of the room, stealing one last look at her before closing the door all of the way.

Amanda had never felt so strange in her life. Daniel and Finn were like twins, but she knew that was silly. He acted just like him too. Something about him seemed so familiar, but yet she had never met him before.

Amanda had until Christmas to find out who he was—before she got married off to some "Prince Greg." She had seven months. Hopefully that was enough time.

* * *

**I do apologize if some of the wording is off or if something doesn't make sense. True story, I was finishing up/editing this chapter while watching crazy animated Disney Princess knock-off movies (BTW, they're _hilariously_ bad...which makes them even more funny!). **

**Alrighty guys! How did you like this one? What do you think about Amanda & her story? Please review! I absolutely LOVE reading them! And just so y'all know the next one is all about Finn! I'll update as soon as I can! **


	7. Twelve Years in the Making

**Hey guys! So this chapter is extremely long, I know, but it's all about Finn and his point of view through all of this. It jumps around, so I hope it's not too confusing.**

**And without further adieu, let's see what's been going on with Finn all this time! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 7: Twelve Years in the Making

January 1, 2358  
Province 10, County 8, Manhattan  
Ritz Carlton Hotel—NYC, Central Park

To say Finn was sore would be a serious understatement. He felt as if a bus had run over him—repeatedly. He slowly opened his eyes and immediately noticed the white ceiling with the elaborate borders, so white it almost blinded him.

He slowly sat up—trying his hardest not to scream from the pain—and scanned his surroundings. He was on top of a king-sized bed in a fancy hotel room. In the corner there was an old man sitting in a leather reclining chair reading a newspaper.

"Wayne?" Finn managed to say. His throat was dry, as if he hadn't had anything to drink in days.

Wayne looked up from his newspaper and a small smile grew on his face. Wayne got up and walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. "My boy, you're awake. What do you remember?"

"What do you mean _what do I remember?_"

"What is your name?"

"Finn, duh."

Wayne's expression hardened. Finn knew he didn't liked the word duh. "Your _full_ name, young man."

"Lawrence Finnegan Whitman."

"Good. How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"And are you married?"

"Amanda and I have been married for five months. You know all of this Wayne. You were there!"

"Good," Wayne, ignoring Finn's comments as usual, reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a stack of folders labeled top-secret. He handed them to Finn. "You're going to need to read these over after our conversation today."

Finn glanced down at the stack of files. There had to be at least ten. Each one was bursting with hundreds of loose-leaf papers. "All of these?"

"Yes," Wayne said. "Now there's a few things we're going to have to discuss before you start reading those."

"And what's that?"

"Right now, you're in the world Maleficent's curse has created."

Finn knew better than to question such a ridiculous sounding statement. He had known that her curse had been coming for five years now.

_Oh crap, _Finn thought to himself.

Finn glanced up at Wayne and all of the questions beginning to form in his mind began spilling out like water slipping through cracks in a concrete dam—there was no stopping it until someone put a plug in it.

"Where is Amanda? Where are Willa and Philby and Maybeck and Charlene and Jess? Are they okay? Are they even _alive_? Where's Maleficent? How am I supposed to save them if I don't know where they are? How did I get that potion in time? I didn't have it on me when she started the curse? Where am I now? Why are you here? She said…" Finn's voice broke. "She…she said you were...gone."

Wayne's eyes showed sympathy, but his facial expression was unreadable.

"Those folders will answer most of your questions. As for me, I found you after the curse was enacted and gave you that potion you gave me five years ago. I brought you here about an hour ago."

"I was only asleep an hour?" Finn ran his hand through his hair. "It seemed a lot longer than that."

"I should imagine. That potion knocked you out pretty good."

"So where am I right now?"

"The Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City."

Finn felt his jaw drop. "Are you _serious?_"

Wayne shrugged off the question as if he came to five-star hotels all of the time. "Now there are a few things you need to know about this curse before you read those folders."

"What's that?"

"Each of your friends are in different parts of the world. None of them will remember you, but they might think you seem familiar. When you find then, you cannot, by any means, tell them who you are."

"Why not? Wouldn't that help them remember?"

Wayne shook his head. He pulled out six black envelopes from inside his winter coat. "Hand them these when you see them and make sure to tell them they _must_ read these when they are alone."

Finn took the envelopes and added it to the pile of folders in his lap. "What's in these?"

"It basically tells them to meet you in Magic Kingdom on October 1st at one in the morning. You also promise to help them remember where they know you from."

"And what do I do when they're all there on October 1st? Assuming they all come."

"They will come."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because all of your friends still have their true selves hidden in them somewhere. Even in the world that Maleficent has created for them, they still rebel in small ways. When you tell them you're going to overthrow Maleficent, they'll all be on board."

"You want _me_ to start a world-wide rebellion?"

Wayne gave him a confused look. "Who else? You are the savior after all."

Finn swallowed a lump in his throat the size of a brick. "Right."

Wayne stood up. "Now I've got places to be and things to do. You've got your assignment."

"Wait! Where are you going? What if I need you?"

Wayne placed a hand on Finn's shoulder. "Don't you worry, my boy. I'll see you in October along with your friends. Until then, you're on your own. But I have faith that you will complete the task at hand."

Finn nodded, turning his gaze to the pile of papers and envelopes on his lap. He had to save his friends. Now it was time to suck it up, do the research and start a world-wide rebellion against Maleficent.

_No big deal,_ Finn reminded himself. _Just an average day as a keeper._

* * *

January 9, 2358  
Province 9, County 15, British Columbia  
Black Market Auction Under Apartment 15B

During the auction, Finn couldn't stop tapping his foot. He was so nervous. He didn't want to give away anything, but he also wanted her to feel as if she knew him from somewhere.

He spotted Jess with a guy sitting three rows ahead of him. This mysterious guy had his arm draped over her shoulder. He whispered something in her ear and she smiled up at him.

For the first time in Finn's life, he was seeing Jess be perfectly happy with a guy. Every time during high school or college when she would bring home a boyfriend, there was always something off with the couple. Finn took up the role as her older brother, a role that Marcus had been horrible at, and scared most of the losers away.

But for some reason while watching Jess with this new guy, he didn't feel the need to punch the guy. None of his over-protective brother feelings were surfacing. That could only mean one thing, she was truly happy with this guy—whoever he was.

"Now, we've got a lovely drawing from our very own Jessica Lockhart," the auctioneer said. He held up a small frame with a picture colored with colored pencils.

On this piece of paper, was a perfect reenactment of Finn fighting Chernabog back in ninth grade, right after Dillard had died.

Finn put his hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of a gasp. _How could she know about that? They don't have any of their memories! She wasn't even there when it happened!_

Finn didn't care who bought the picture. He would have bought it if he had brought money, but he hadn't thought about it. He was here on a mission.

At the end of the auction, Finn collected himself and walked over to Jess, tapping her on the shoulder.

"I loved the piece you drew. Where'd you get the idea for that one?" He asked her.

Jess shook her head, as if pushing away some thought. "I…uh…just started drawing one day, and that was the result."

Finn studied her. He could tell there was more to that story. Finn came to the conclusion that despite the curse, she was still having Jess dreams.

_Instead of seeing her future, she sees her past. __Maybe that'll make it easier for her to believe me_, Finn thought to himself.

Finn fished out the first black envelope out of his pocket and offered it to her.

"What's this?" Jess asked him.

"An envelope?" Finn spat off sarcastically. She rolled her eyes and took the letter. Finn leaned in close and whispered into her ear: "Read it when you're alone, Jess. This is not the place."

Finn turned around and walked away, making sure not to turn back at look at her. Just before leaving, he gave into the temptation and turned, immediately noticing that she was staring at him. He waved at her awkwardly before disappearing through the doorway.

On the other side of the door, Finn took a deep breath to collect himself. Had he ruined everything by saying her name?

_No,_ he reminded himself. _The auctioneer said her name. You didn't blow anything yet._

_Yet_, that's the key word in that sentence.

* * *

February 2, 2358  
Province 2, County 1, United Kingdom  
Rebel Base—London Underground

Finn took a deep breath, standing behind the door of the rebel leader's door. He had a pistol strapped to his belt, just in case things went wrong. He had barely survived the attack on the rebels earlier in the day. This pistol had been his lifeline.

_Okay,_ Finn encouraged himself, _Philby's on the other side of the door. You can do this._

He knocked on the door and waited to hear a "come in."

"Come in," the commander said from behind the door. Finn opened it and walked in. Philby was sitting on the couch with the commander sitting behind the desk.

Finn nodded at the commander, as a matter of respect, and turned to Philby. He reached into his coat and pulled out the second black envelope, offering it to him.

"This is for you, doctor. Nice work today, by the way. Saving all those people's lives and stuff."

Philby took the envelope without breaking eye contact. If there was one thing that Philby did that always unnerved Finn, it was his unwavering eye contact. It was similar to the look his mom gave him when she wanted him to admit that he had done something wrong.

Philby broke eye contact and started to open the envelope.

"No!" Finn called out. He took a shaky breath and composed himself. "That's for you to read in private."

"Uh…okay…" Philby tucked the envelope into his pocket. He didn't look convinced at all.

Finn took a deep breath, as if he had just defused a bomb. He looked over Philby one last time before turning to the commander.

"Commander, the officers requested you outside."

"Thank you for reminding me." The commander stood up and walked toward Finn. "What's your name, soldier?"

Finn straightened up. _Play it cool, Whitman._

"Uh...Daniel Wesley sir."

"Wesley, thank you. Now return to your post. The last thing we need today is for _another_ government force attacking us."

Finn saluted to the commander and left the room, glancing once more in Philby's direction before fully exiting the commander's office. He knew Philby was good at playing two sides and keeping secrets. He just hoped and prayed that he would be able to keep this one until October 1st.

* * *

March 28, 2358  
Province 4, County 29, Honshu Island  
Mt. Fuji Tourist Center

Finn adjusted his sunglasses as he scanned the crowd for Charlene. He had been tracking her through the fourth province for almost a month now. According to her file, she was accused of witchcraft and was on the run, and had been since January.

The thought of Charlene being accused of witchcraft made Finn want to double over with laughter. But now was not the place and time. He could laugh about it later, _after_ he gave her the black envelope.

He noticed a flash of blonde hair move toward the staircase leading down to the base of the mountain, where he was, and Finn moved to get into position.

He glanced up her way once he got closer and watched as she turned and scurried down the stairs, dodging the people as she went, ultimately causing a huge scene.

_Stupid idea, Charlene. This is _not_ helping your situation at all!_

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Finn moved closer. He wanted her to run into him, but all of these people were in his way. He shoved through the people as he got closer, closely watching Charlene's progress down the stairs.

Once she reached the bottom, Finn was right in between her and the parking lot. She glanced behind her at full sprint, only to run right into Finn. The sheer force of her body running at full speed crashing into him caused Finn to fall over, knocking his sunglasses off of his face, and for Charlene to land right on top of him.

She looked up at him, possibly to apologize, but all he got was a blank, distant stare. It was almost as if she wasn't all there.

Finn didn't quite understand what was going on. She was staring right at him, but he knew it wasn't him that she was looking at. Something else was there…

_OH!_ The imaginary light bulb turned on over Finn's head.

Wayne had mentioned something like this, but he hadn't seen it happen yet. He had warned Finn that if he touched them, his friends might get flashes of memories. Finn figured this was what Charlene was going through right now.

Finn couldn't help but wonder which memory he had triggered. Hopefully a good memory. Based off of what her file said, the last thing Charlene needed was another bad memory.

Charlene blinked and came back to her senses.

"Uh…sorry…" Charlene scrambled to get up. Finn stood up and grabbed her arm, pulling her close.

"I've got to go, I'm sorry," Charlene tried her hardest to rip her arm away from his grasp, but was unsuccessful. Finn knew he was stronger.

"Look, kid, I've got to run," she muttered under her breath.

Finn could tell that he was in that flashback of hers, for she was looking at him differently.

He reached into his jacket with his other hand and pulled out a black envelope and a pair of keys.

"Take these," he insisted. "The keys go to the blue compact car in front. An innocent person like you doesn't need to start breaking laws now."

"Do I know you?" Charlene asked as she took the black envelope and the keys from him.

Finn sighed. He wanted nothing more than to say _"Yes! We've known each other since we were twelve! We once liked each other, but now I'm with Amanda. You just broke off your engagement to Maybeck for some unknown reason. You're athletic and sarcastic and drop-dead gorgeous, not that I would ever admit that with Amanda around. You were in my wedding! I was there when you won your gold medal in the 2012 Olympics! I'm one of your best friends!"_ He wanted to say all of that, but he couldn't. He shook the thought out of his head and looked her in the eyes.

"Maybe you did...once upon a time." He let go of her arm. "Read the letter inside when you're alone."

Charlene mouthed a thank you to him and took off toward the parking lot.

Finn closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. He hoped that was the hardest one, but he had a strange feeling that his encounter with Charlene was going to be easy compared to the remaining three.

* * *

April 11, 2358  
Province 6, County 20, Turkey  
Istanbul Apartment 18F

Finn sat there on the steps of apartment 18F. If there was something Finn hadn't expected when coming to Istanbul, it had been the heat. Finn grew up in Florida, he thought he knew how hot things could get. But then he got to Istanbul in April.

He tried to distract himself by reading a book, but it was in Arabic—a language he didn't know a single thing about. He knew what little Spanish he remembered from freshman year of college and English, but that was it when it came to foreign languages.

He hadn't realized he was tapping his foot, until he leg suddenly felt tired. Finn kept glancing around, looking for any signs of Maybeck. According to his file, he always patrolled this section of the city in the morning. Finn was counting on Maybeck's schedule to be the same.

No, he wasn't counting on it, he was _depending_ on it as if his life was on the line. Which if Finn was being technical, it was.

He saw the police car across the street and noticed Maybeck sitting in the driver's seat. For a brief second, their eyes met and Finn knew he had to go. Maybeck's gaze lingered away from Finn for a brief second, giving Finn enough time to sneak back into apartment 18F, which he had rented for the week—today being the seventh and last day.

Finn knew he had about three minutes before the rebel soldier was going to run down the street. Since his time in London, Finn had gotten a large number of contacts within the rebel forces. At first, he had no clue what to do with them, but now that he was here in Istanbul, he began putting it to good use.

He paid one of the rebel soldiers to distract Maybeck for a few minutes. Finn knew that after any form of chase, Maybeck and his partner would go to the coffee shop down the street from Finn's rented apartment.

Finn planned on being there at the precise moment that Maybeck walked in.

After his three minutes was up, Finn scurried down the street and picked a table on the inside of the coffee shop. He had maybe been there ten minutes when Maybeck and his partner came bursting in, laughing and having a good time.

If Finn had said that he wasn't jealous of Maybeck's new friend, he'd be lying. He missed the days where they would hang out, play video games and laugh at each other's lame jokes. It had been a little over four months since Maleficent's curse had come into effect, and each day Finn felt more and more alone. He wanted his friends back. He wanted his wife back.

Heck, he wanted _all_ of his old life back.

Maybeck headed to the bathroom and Finn knew it was time. He slowly got up and made his way toward the bathroom, timing his steps perfectly. When Maybeck emerged from the bathroom, Finn "accidentally" knocked into him, spilling his coffee all over Maybeck's uniform.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Finn's façade showed shock, when on the inside he wanted to laugh at Maybeck's reaction.

"It's fine," Maybeck mumbled while staring at his shirt. Maybeck looked up at Finn and his eyes went wide.

_Crap,_ Finn said to himself. _He recognizes me from earlier._

In order to stop Maybeck from asking any questions, Finn pulled out a napkin from his back pocket and started to clean the stain as well as he could.

Maybeck looked him in the eye with a scowl and got that same distant look that Charlene got back near Mount Fuji.

While Maybeck was in another place, Finn kept dabbing his uniform with the napkin, so that he wouldn't make it too obvious.

After a few seconds, Maybeck took a shaky breath and focused back in on Finn.

"You," Maybeck pointed at him, his finger shaking. "You…I…I know you. You were watching me over by apartment block 18!"

"Here," Finn handed him the rest of the napkins. He decided ignoring that comment would be best for both of them. "Take these. I got some of it out, but you're going to have to wash that shirt to get the stain out completely."

Maybeck studied him for a few brief seconds before taking the napkins.

"Thanks."

Luckily, Finn had slipped the envelope into the middle of the stack. He suppressed the smug grin.

"What's this?" Maybeck motioned to the black envelope.

"It's for you, Maybeck."

"How do you know my name?"

Finn froze. He hadn't thought of an answer to that. He quickly composed himself when he saw Maybeck's name stitched onto the uniform shirt.

"It's on your uniform."

Maybeck didn't break eye contact with him, which ran chills up Finn's spine. Maybeck took a step closer to him and lowered his voice.

"What's in this letter? A bomb?"

Finn threw up his hands, as to say _Whoa, bro!_ "It's just a letter, man. Chill."

"And what's in this letter?"

"That's for you to read and find out. If I told you, there'd be no point in handing you the letter, now would there?"

Maybeck studied him, a gesture in which Finn returned.

"What's your name?"

"You'll see sooner or later. Read it when you're alone." Finn pushed past him and headed out of the coffee shop.

_Four down, two to go._

* * *

May 1, 2358  
Province 12, County 5, Argentina  
Buenos Aires Apartment Sector 98

When Spencer had asked if he had wanted to babysit his daughter for the day, Finn felt as if the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders.

For two weeks now, he had been trying to find ways to talk to Willa, but he couldn't find_ one._ When Spencer had asked him, he was beyond thrilled. He now knew that Willa would _have_ to talk to him.

He did have a lot of experience babysitting Lizzie. He did it all the time for Willa and Philby before the curse. He didn't just do it because he was a good friend, Amanda found it attractive that he was so good with babies.

And if Amanda found something attractive, Finn was all over it.

It might have just been him, but it seemed as if Lizzie remembered him. Every cool thing he had been trying to teach her to do—high-five, fist bump, getting her to say his name as her first word—was still in her memory. It made him wonder if Maleficent's curse included her.

After playing with Lizzie for a few hours and feeding her a late lunch, he put her down for a nap. Since he had no idea what to do, an old habit of his kicked in: watching television, something he rarely got to do since the curse had begun.

Willa's house had possibly the _best_ television/sound system he had seen in a _long_ time. He knew she had a high-paying job, but this was the last thing he had expected her to do with it. Finn figured Spencer had forced her to get this, but Finn wasn't complaining.

He turned on the television and flipped through the channels until the royal gossip channel popped up. He was about to change the channel when Greg's face appeared on the screen.

Greg Luowski, who had been killed by Maleficent five years ago, was alive and well in her cursed world. Why was Finn not surprised?

He got so caught up in the silliness that he didn't hear Willa open the door and enter the house. She entered the living room and he turned to her, giving her a smile.

He could tell that she had had a long day. Under normal circumstances, he would have asked her what was wrong and she would have poured her heart out about her bad day. The ranting would have ended with a hug and possibly some ice cream. But in this cursed world, he had a feeling she wasn't going to trust a complete stranger like that.

"Uh…where's my daughter?" She asked him.

"Oh," Finn picked up the remote and muted the television. He turned to face her and continued. "She fell asleep about an hour ago. I decided watching her while she slept would be very weird, so I came in here." He motioned to the television. "Nice living room, by the way. You must be very rich."

Willa shrugged. "This is all my husband's stuff. All he does is watch football and play video games."

Finn nodded solemnly. Based off her tone of voice, she hated Spencer, just like she did before the curse. Finn was glad, not only for his sake, but also Philby's. Even though the two hadn't crossed paths in this cursed world, he still knew they would fall in love with each other. "He seemed like that kind of guy."

"I'm Willa, by the way." Willa extended her hand to Finn. "Sorry about any inconveniences my daughter or husband might have caused you today."

"Name's Daniel," Finn said as he shook her hand. "And your daughter was no trouble at all. She's a sweetheart. Your husband…he…is uh…interesting."

Willa let out a laugh. "That's about the nicest thing you can say about him." She sat down on the couch next to him. "What are you watching?"

"Oh!" He perked up and turned up the television's volume. "I got bored, so I found this royal gossip channel. It sounded dumb, but it's actually interesting."

Willa gave him a strange look. "Why is it interesting? The royal family is boring."

"The 11th province has this crazy stupid prince, Prince Greg," Finn glanced her way. He knew he had a crazy, mischievous look on his face.

"What's Prince Greg doing to make the royal gossip channel?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, okay." Finn perked up, partly because he was glad that he had someone he could talk to and partly because he was glad Willa wasn't shoving him away. She actually seemed curious enough to want to stick around and listen to his ridiculous story. "So, the wise guy supposedly…"

Finn pointed to the television and started filling her in on the latest royal news. His hand dropped and hit hers. Finn glanced her way and saw that she had that same distant look.

After about a minute, Willa took a sharp breath. Finn gave her a confused look, pretending to not know what had just gone on.

"Are you okay, Willa?"

Willa took a few breaths and faced him, giving him a forced smile. "Of course, this…this royal stuff…it's just shocking that's all."

"Sure," Finn joked.

Willa rolled her eyes and stood up. "You can leave now, Daniel. I can take it from here."

Finn stood up too. "Do you need me to come tomorrow? Your husband said he wasn't coming back until then."

Willa raised her eyebrow. "Sure," Willa finally replied. "Do you mind if I pay you tomorrow? I don't have any cash on me at the moment."

"Oh I don't want your cash."

"What?"

"I said I would do it for free."

"That's nonsense, Daniel. I'll pay you what my husband promised you tomorrow."

"He promised me way too much. I don't want it. I've got enough cash to live off of."

Willa studied him. He knew that she could tell that he had his mind made up already. "Fine, if you insist."

"Awesome! What time should I be here tomorrow?"

"I leave for work at six in the morning, so is 5:30 okay?"

"Five-thirty in the _morning_?"

"Is that too early?"

Finn's shoulders slumped. "No," he mumbled.

Willa smiled. "Good, I'll see you then."

Finn nodded and pushed past her, heading for the front door.

At the last minute, he turned around. "Willa?"

Willa turned around and looked at him. "Yes, Daniel?"

He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a black envelope. "This is for you." He walked over and handed it to her. His hand touched hers, giving her another flashback.

_Dang,_ Finn scolded himself. _I really need to stop doing that. _

Finn waited patiently until Willa came back to reality—or whatever one would call this cursed world Maleficent created.

"You sure you're okay?" Finn asked her in his caring, older brother voice. "Maybe you should go take a nap. I can stay and watch Lizzie if you—"

"No!" Willa shouted. Based off her facial expression, she hadn't meant to shout. _She's had a long day, I'll let it slide._

"Okay!" He threw up his hands in defeat. "Just read the letter when I'm gone, and make sure that nobody finds it."

Willa eyed him suspiciously. "Okay."

"I'll see you tomorrow at five-thirty then," Finn said with a smile. He wasn't looking forward to getting up that early, but it was worth it.

* * *

April 30, 2358  
Province 1, County 1, Iberian Peninsula  
Royal Palace—Barcelona

Finn took a deep breath knocked on Amanda's bedroom. He had deliberately made her the last on his list. This was going to be the hardest conversation yet. Seeing her and knowing that she couldn't remember him was already bringing on tears.

"Come in," Amanda croaked out from behind the door. To Finn, it sounded as if she had been crying. _Keep it together Finn. You can do this._

The door opened and Finn walked in, shutting the door silently behind him.

Amanda's eyes went wide. "Y-y-you!" Tears streamed down her face as she pointed up at him with a shaky finger. "You look just like Finn!"

Finn took a step back in shock. _How does she know me? Was she not under the curse?_ Then it hit him. She said "you look just _like_ Finn." That means she doesn't recognize him. At least that's what he _thought_ it meant.

"Your Majesty," he straightened up and pulled out a black envelope from his coat. "This is for you."

Amanda took the envelope without breaking eye contact with him. "What's your name?"

"Daniel Wesley, Your Majesty." A small smile grew on his face. He couldn't help it with the love of his life sitting in front of him.

"Daniel, hmm…" Amanda glanced down at the envelope. He knew she was trying hard not to cry, though he didn't know why.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Finn walked up to her and knelt at her feet. "You seem upset."

Amanda glanced up at him. He could tell that she was studying him. He gave her the same look he always did when she was upset—a look that showed her that he cared about her more than anything in the world.

A weak smile grew on Amanda's face. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

He placed a hand on her knee. "No, I wouldn't Your Majesty."

Amanda stared down at his hand on her knee.

Daniel followed her gaze and took his hand back. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

Amanda looked back up at his face, but this time there was no distant stare like the others. He found it strange that he had touched her, but she didn't have a flashback.

"You look just like my dead husband."

His face twisted with confusion. "I do?"

_Dead husband?_

"Yes," Amanda stood up and grabbed a picture from her bedside table. She walked back over to Finn, who had taken the free moment to stand, and handed it to him. "His name was Finn. He died four years ago."

Finn's eyes went wide as he stared down at the picture. _Maleficent put me in her past. She thinks I'm dead! _

"He…I…and…oh…I can see your confusion."

Amanda took back the picture and returned it to the bedside table. She picked up the envelope. "Who sent this?"

She began to open it, but Finn laid her hand on top of hers, stopping her.

"Not yet, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Amanda."

He smiled at her and grabbed her hand, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her hand. "As you wish."

Finn slowly backed out of the room, stealing one last look at her before closing the door all of the way.

He leaned his back against the door and held back tears. She was upset. She thought Finn was dead. He knew visiting her was going to be hard, but he didn't know it was going to be _this_ hard.

He had five months until he would see her again. Hopefully the next time would be much better.

Best case scenario: she showed up on October 1st and remembered who he was.

Worst case scenario: she didn't show up at all.

* * *

October 1, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Main Street, U.S.A.

Finn walked up Main Street, U.S.A. Despite all of the chaos on his life, Finn couldn't help but love Magic Kingdom. It was the place that felt like a home away from home. The place that he roamed the nights as a DHI. The place where he grew closer to his friends. The place where he and Amanda had had their first _real_ kiss.

He sat down on the same bench he had sat on all those years ago on the first night he had met Wayne. Together, they had sat there when Finn had seen the first characters: Winnie the Pooh and Chip and Dale—he still couldn't remember if Goofy was there or not.

That night twelve years ago had changed his life for the better, despite all of the heartache that had come along with it. But like they say, with great success comes great sacrifice.

_Twelve years? That's half my life, _Finn thought to himself.

He glanced down at his watch and saw that it was midnight. Despite being the middle of the night, Finn had not seen a single character. He figured this had something to do with the curse. He still vividly remembered that night five years ago when the princesses had warned him that he would have to save them alongside his friends.

He had one hour until his friends arrived. He had a speech all planned out. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but he had a feeling having all seven of them together would turn out to be much different than he could ever imagine.

He took a deep breath. _One hour, Finn, you can do this. It's time to get your friends back. _

* * *

**So what do y'all think? What's going to happen when all of his friends get there in an hour? Any ideas? Will they all remember or will it be a lot harder than Finn or Wayne ever thought possible?**

**Please review, I simply ****_love_**** reading them! Your reviews so far have been amazing! Keep it up!**

**Have a wonderful rest of your week! :)**


	8. A Little Sister Returns

**It's been a long time guys! I hope this chapter makes up for it! I personally like this one, not going to lie. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8: A Little Sister Returns

October 1, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Main Street, U.S.A.

Philby glanced down at his watch. It was 1 in the morning on October 1st, the exact time that he was told to be in the forbidden district by this mysterious "Daniel Wesley" character.

He glanced around him and saw five other people standing with him in an awkwardly silent circle.

To his left, was a young woman with strawberry blonde hair and fair skin. She was dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts and a pink t-shirt, a poor decision on this cold night. Her blue eyes scanned over him quickly before rolling them, as if disgusted by what she saw. Something about her made Philby want to avoid eye contact, as if she could see into his soul or turn him into stone.

Next to her was a young man with dark hair and skin wearing blue jeans and a black Police Academy hoodie. Philby knew there were some massive muscles hidden underneath the over-sized hoodie. This guy was _not_ someone you wanted to meet in an alley at night.

On the other side of him was a beautiful, young woman with blonde hair pulled up in a pony tail. She was dressed in a long-sleeve maroon t-shirt with black leggings as pants with blinding white tennis shoes. Her foot kept tapping, creating a small echo on the cobblestone street beneath their feet. It might have just been Philby, but she seemed anxious and nervous—as if she already knew what was coming, and hated it.

Philby's gaze moved to the next person, who he immediately recognized. At first, he didn't want to believe it, but it only made more and more sense as time flew by. Since their purpose here involved overthrowing Maleficent, it seemed only fitting to have Queen Amanda of the 1st province here. Based off her story, she was the royal that had the most to gain from a change in government. Instead of wearing something elaborate, the queen was dressed in a simple navy blue dress that went to her knees with a black peacoat over it. She glanced around nervously, but Philby noticed the sad look in her eyes.

To avoid feeling depressed along with the queen, Philby moved on to the last person waiting. It only took one second for him to have his breath taken away by her beauty. She was at least a head shorter than her with slightly tan skin. Her brown hair was braided, with the braid resting on her right shoulder. She was wearing skinny jeans and a white V-neck t-shirt. Philby didn't know her, but he already knew he loved her.

He noticed that she was shivering and had the sudden urge to give her his jacket. Just as his fingers wrapped around the zipper, a voice called out to the group from behind him.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Philby turned around and saw Daniel Wesley hurrying down the cobblestone street toward them. This early morning he was dressed in jeans and a bright green t-shirt with a white Northface jacket over it.

"It's about time you get here! It's freezing!" The woman who had rolled her eyes at Philby earlier spat off sarcastically.

"Oh please, Jess," Daniel scoffed. "Get over it."

He stopped when he got up to the group, nudging himself in between Philby and the girl with the white V-neck. He nodded at each person before continuing.

"Alright, let me introduce myself. My name is Daniel Wesley, but we all know that's not my real name."

"We do? What is it then?" The blonde asked. She kept shifting her weight from her right foot to her left, causing Philby to feel uneasy.

"That's what you've got to remember," Daniel said with a cheery smile, as if this was all some kind of sick game.

When Daniel was met with six blank stares, he took a frustrated breath and continued.

"You've all had your memories wiped." Daniel held out his hands to stop any disagreements, as if to say _hold on, let me finish_. "We've all known each other since we were twelve."

"And how do you know that all of our memories have been wiped? I remember just about everything about my life." The third guy in the Academy hoodie asked skeptically.

"Yeah, but until January of this year, those memories are pretty fuzzy. Right?"

Philby wanted to refute that statement. He didn't want to believe his whole life had been made up, but now that he thought of it, most of his memories _were_ pretty fuzzy.

The minute of silence answered Daniel's question.

"Exactly." Daniel stated. "Now we're here so that you can get your memories back."

"I thought we were discussing overthrowing Maleficent?" The queen asked Daniel in a quiet voice.

Daniel smiled at her. "I'm glad you mentioned that, Amanda. The two things are interdependent on each other."

"How so?" The girl next to Philby, Jess, asked.

"We're the only ones who can defeat her. The only way she can win is if we can't remember who we are."

"So how come you remember who you are?" The blonde asked.

Daniel's shoulders slumped. It might have just been Philby, but it seemed like Daniel was dreading that very question—and had been for some time now..

"I was given a potion that made me immune to the curse."

"Why _you_?" Jess retorted.

Daniel rolled his eyes at her. "I'm the leader of our group. Apparently _I'm_ the only one that can help you remember who you are, and to do that I needed to keep my memories."

"Fine then, smart butt." Jess crossed her arms and gave him a defiant look. "Who am I?"

"I can't tell you that. You have to remember on your own."

"Wait a minute," Philby blurted out before he could stop himself. Daniel and the others turned to face him. "How can we believe anything you're saying?"

"What will convince you that I'm telling the truth?"

Philby crossed his arms so to challenge Daniel. "Tell me something about myself that nobody would know but you."

"Same with all of us, Daniel," Academy hoodie guy said as he crossed his arms.

Daniel eyed both of them before taking a deep breath. He turned to face the blonde girl.

"Charlene Turner. You crave for the people that you love to love you back, especially with your absent dad. Because of that it takes you a long time to trust someone. But that day at Mt. Fuji, you trusted me. Why?"

Charlene's face twisted in confusion, but soon changed to deep understanding, as if a light bulb had just gone off in her head.

Daniel moved on to Jess.

"Jessica Lockhart. You've been dreaming of the people in this circle here since...uh...January, right? You draw out the scenes you see, like the one from the auction that night I talked to you. Normally, you dream the future, not the past, but they're still detailed. That picture that you sold the day I found you was of me, when I was fighting Chernabog."

"C-C-Chernabog?" Jess stuttered. "That _thing_ has a name?"

"Yeah," Daniel didn't look pleased. Whomever this "Chernabog" character was, it was obviously still giving Daniel nightmares. "It was worse battling it in person."

"So how did I dream of something in _your_ past?"

Daniel shrugged. "Beats me."

He turned to Academy hoodie guy. "Terry Maybeck. Despite the bad boy attitude, you're a nice guy underneath. You'll do anything to save your friends and loved ones. Right before the curse, you had your heart-broken by a girl you loved more than anything. Let me guess, you've felt like something's been missing since January? My guess is you've been feeling that way because you've been separated from her."

Terry's face didn't change, but Philby guessed Daniel was still right. Terry readjusted his arms and waited for Daniel to continue.

Instead of saying anything more to Terry, Daniel moved on to the girl with the white V-neck.

"Willa Angelo. _Yes_, I know that's not your last name anymore, but you and Spencer are not supposed to be married. Heck, Lizzie isn't his kid! Ever since I've known you, Willa, you've always dreamed of having a knight in shining armor sweep you off your feet. And we both know Spencer isn't _anything_ close to that. You—"

"Stop Daniel," Willa interrupted. Philby noticed that she looked like she was on the verge of tears. He had the sudden urge to wrap his arms around her.  
_  
Where are these feelings coming from?_

She took a breath to compose herself and continued. "I've heard enough."

Daniel nodded at her, a look of sympathy smacked on his face. Daniel turned to face Philby.

"Dell Philby. All I have to say is that you always need indisputable proof of something before you go along with it."

Philby nodded. "So where's yours?"

"I have everything in an apartment that's walking distance from here. I can take you there when we're done for the night, if you'd like."

Philby studied Daniel. He really wanted to go now, but the words "when we're done for the night" still rang in his ears. Apparently tonight wasn't just a meet-and-greet. As his best friend from college, Hugo, would say. _Stuff's about to go down—_except he wouldn't have said stuff.

"Sure thing," Philby added.

"Okay then," Daniel turned to Queen Amanda. He seemed uneasy, as if talking to her about her true self made him feel uncomfortable. "Amanda—"

"Ah, I see you're all here! Splendid!"

The seven turned around to see an old man walking up the street toward them. He had pearl white hair, a wily grin that showed he was up to no good, and was using a walking stick—which, for some odd reason, seemed out of place to Philby.

The seven watched in silence as the old man-made his way up to them.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we've got sights to see and memories to get back!"

"And who are you old man?" Terry called out.

"Watch your mouth Terrence! My name is Wayne Kretsky. Now if you don't mind, I've got assignments for all of you." He winked at them. "Just like old times."

"Wait! We knew you before this _supposed_ curse?" Charlene asked Wayne.

"Now, we'll need you to be in pairs." Wayne scanned over the group, completely ignoring Charlene's question. "How about Miss Turner and Her Majesty head over to Tom Sawyer's Island? I believe the ferry isn't in _too_ bad of condition."

Charlene and Amanda shared a brief look that Philby couldn't decipher.

"And how about Mr. Maybeck and Miss Lockhart head over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride? Yes," he nodded, as if coming up with a magnificent plan inside his head. "That would be great."

Terry glanced over at Jess and winked, causing her to roll her eyes and pull her arms tighter across her chest. Before she could refuse, Wayne continued.

"And Miss Angelo should go with..." Wayne looked between Philby and Daniel for a few seconds, as if deciding who the best companion for her is. Philby found himself wanting to be with Willa so much.

"Daniel. Yes, Daniel take her to it's a small world."

Daniel's face fell. "_What_?"

"You'll be fine, my boy. _They're_ not here anymore."

Philby wanted to ask who Wayne was referring to, but before he could Wayne turned to him.

"As with you, Mr. Philby, we'll be heading to my apartment to get you that proof you crave so dearly."

Philby nodded solemnly. He wanted to be with Willa, not this old man.

"Now take time to explore your designated area and we'll meet back here around six in the morning."

Wayne didn't wait for any reactions. He turned around and walked back in the direction that he came in. Everyone else shared a brief moment of confusion, even Daniel.

"Well, you heard him." Daniel said in a shaky voice. He gave Charlene and Terry directions to their areas of interest before heading off to it's a small world with Willa.

Philby couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as he watched them leave. When they were far enough away, Philby turned around to see that Wayne was almost out of sight.

_Great, the old man's faster than I thought._

Philby jogged down the street to catch up with Wayne. He wasn't about to be left behind by him, especially when he was offering proof for Daniel's crazy theory.

* * *

It must have taken Charlene and Amanda two hours to get the ferry operating again. Based off of the surroundings, Amanda guessed this place had been abandoned for some time now, possibly centuries.

The signs out front, most of which contained broken glass and graffiti, claimed that this park, if you could even call it that, was called "Magic Kingdom." And after two hours, Amanda would say this place was anything _but _magical. She would have called it "Death Trap" or "Sketch-ville" or even "Creepy Town."

Once barely making it to the island, Charlene and Amanda decided splitting up would be the best way to go.

"I'm assuming we each have different memories of this place," Amanda had concluded. "If we walk around together, they might not come back." Charlene agreed and trudged off in the opposite direction of Amanda without another word.

Amanda walked around for at least an hour. She walked over small suspension bridges and through underground mining shafts and eventually ended up in front of a huge wooden waterwheel.

Somehow, in all of this destruction, the waterwheel was still working. Amanda couldn't help but admire the beauty of the water as it was carried over the top of the wheel and back down on the other side.

Amanda caught herself smiling as she remembered her favorite date with her late husband, Finn.

It was about a year before they had gotten married—two years since they had first met. Somehow Finn had gotten a free week in his busy schedule and snuck away to the eighth province. He came in and whisked her away to a cabin that he had rented for a few days. Behind the cabin was a river that contained a similar wooden waterwheel. The sight before Amanda's eyes now was similar to that one.

On the first night there, Amanda had dared Finn to climb to the top of the wheel while it was still in motion. He had joked that she was trying to get him killed. Amanda took that as a no and went for it herself. After a few seconds of brief victory at the top of the wheel, she slipped and fell. Luckily, Finn caught her in his arms.

That moment led to their first kiss. Amanda missed the way he kissed. She missed the way he would hold her when she was upset. She missed his goofy smile when he was up to no good. She missed everything about him.

_It's been four years, Amanda,_ she scolded herself. _It's time to move on. _

Amanda shook the thoughts of Finn out of her head and continued walking aimlessly for the remainder of the time. Eventually, she found Charlene taking a nap in one of the teepees.

"Charlene! What are you doing?" Amanda yelled so that she would wake up.

"Huh?" Charlene rubbed her eyes and looked up at Amanda. "Oh…uh…I was taking a nap."

"I'm guessing you didn't find anything then?"

"Well…" Charlene stretched. "This place seemed familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."

Amanda glanced around the giant teepee. She wasn't sure why a teepee would seem familiar to Charlene, but she decided asking wasn't worth it.

"What about you, Your Majesty?" Charlene asked bitterly.

"Please call me Amanda. I hate being called Your Majesty."

Charlene glanced up at her with a skeptical look. "Okay…what did you find, _Amanda?_"

Amanda shrugged. "Nothing." She knew Charlene didn't want to hear all about her dead husband and how he looked just like Daniel Wesley.

Charlene glanced down at her watch. "It's 5:39, do you want to go back to meet the others now?"

Amanda nodded and offered a hand for Charlene to help her stand up.

* * *

Willa and Daniel walked side by side all the way to the attraction called "it's a small world." Willa couldn't help but notice how uneasy Daniel seemed and immediately thought they were being led into a trap of some sorts.

They walked into the building and snaked through the waiting line and came up to the loading dock. Before them was a dull green boat that could probably fit twenty or so people. The waves slowly lapped against the loading dock impatiently, as if it craved more victims.

Willa glanced over at Daniel. "I guess we get on the boat?"

His gaze was still locked on the boat, but he nodded. Together they stepped into the green boat and took a seat. Daniel's foot started tapping immediately.

As if by magic, the boat slowly lurched forward, but for some strange reason Willa wasn't surprised—as if this happened to her all the time.

Willa glanced back at Finn and noticed how with each passing second he was freaking out more and more. She reached over and placed an arm over his shoulders.

"It's just an abandoned ride, Daniel," Willa said in a comforting voice. "Nothing's going to hurt us."

Daniel glanced up at Willa and nodded. "Yeah, I…I'm being stupid."

* * *

As they went through it's a small world, Finn couldn't help but remember the last time he was here. All five of the keepers stood in horror as the dolls unhinged themselves and attacked them. It still gave him nightmares, even though it was twelve years ago.

As the boat slowly made its way through the ride, Finn noticed how nothing was working right. The song wasn't blasting. The dolls weren't moving. It was a miracle the boat was moving.

He glanced over at Willa and noticed how she was looking at everything, as if she was remembering some kind of memory.

_Yes! _Finn wanted to give himself a high-five. If he could get Willa to remember who she is, then he wouldn't be all alone anymore. The past nine months had been absolutely miserable. When he was traveling around trying to find his friends, he wanted to give up and just go home. He didn't want to be all mysterious with them. He wanted to give each of them a hug and tell them about how much he had missed them. But he couldn't. He had to stick to the rules of the game Maleficent had put them in.

But that didn't mean he wasn't trying to find loopholes.

When the boat went back to the loading dock, Finn got out and offered a hand to Willa. She took it and got out of the boat. Finn turned around and started walking out when Willa doubled over in pain and cried out.

Finn turned around and hurried back over to her. She stumbled backwards and almost fell back into the boat, but Finn caught her in time.

"Willa! What's wrong?"

At first she said nothing. Her body was shaking slightly. She slowly wiggled out of Finn's grasp and stood up on her own. He watched with confused and anxious eyes as she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Something was different about her.

Willa glanced up at Finn and a few tears made their way down her cheeks.

"Willa?" Finn asked in a quiet voice.

"Oh, Finn, you found us." She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him.

Finn was so shocked he didn't know what to do. He slowly wrapped his arms around Willa.

"Willa? What's going on?" He whispered into her ear.

She leaned back and looked into his eyes, giving him a caring—almost motherly—smile. "Finn, I remember everything."

Finn had never been so happy in his life. He picked her up and twirled her around. He placed her back on the ground and hugged her again. He never thought he would be so happy to have Willa back in his life. It was great having his little sister back again. Having her remember who she is gave Finn hope that he wasn't failing at his job. He could still save them all.

* * *

**Hmm...so Willa remembers who she is now? What's the deal with Amanda and the "dead husband" aka Finn? Any ideas?**

**Please review! I love reading them! If y'all have any suggestions or ideas for the story I'd love to hear them! I'll update as soon as I can! Enjoy the rest of your day! :)**


	9. Telepathy

**Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! **

**And I totally didn't realize it until **GeekyKiki **pointed it out, but this is somewhat like Once Upon a Time. So I guess that requires a disclaimer? (I don't own anything with O.U.A.T.) Just so y'all know, that's my absolute _favorite_ TV show!**

**Here's chapter 9! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Telepathy

October 1, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Main Street, U.S.A.

"I can't believe you've been running around the world trying to find us for ten months," Willa said to Finn in a small voice. To him, it almost sounded as if she felt guilty—as if the curse was all her fault.

Before Finn could assure her that it wasn't her fault, she cut him off.

"That must have been so lonely."

Finn nodded slowly. Not having his wife or even his friends by his side was the hardest thing he had ever done. Assuming one forgets the strange encounter with an old friend back in August...

"Finn, how did you do it?"

Finn turned to Willa and gave her a confused look. "Do _what _exactly?"

"You knew who we were, but yet you acted like you didn't. That must have been so hard for you, especially when you had to find Amanda."

Finn turned his gaze to the castle, swallowing back tears. "Yeah," he managed. "She was the hardest."

He heard a shaky breath and knew that Willa was holding back tears herself.

"Do you think Philby will remember me now?"

Finn hesitated. For ten months now he had lived without his friends and family. He knew that they didn't remember him, which made it even worse. He was all alone. Not having Amanda by his side had been a huge blow to his self-esteem. He could only imagine what Willa was thinking right now. She was smart, she knew what was coming.

If Philby didn't remember who she was, how would she handle it? Finn certainly didn't handle it good.

Finn glanced ahead of them and saw a few people standing in front of the castle. The rising sun cast their shadows along the cobblestone street. He counted four.

"I guess we'll find out." Finn grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before heading toward the group. He didn't want to see her like this. He needed to be strong, if not for himself, for her. They were the only two that remembered—they had to stick together.

* * *

Willa followed Finn as he walked up to the group of friends. She saw Charlene standing there, tapping her foot impatiently. Willa wanted nothing more than to run and give her best friend a hug. She seemed scared, as if anyone of the group could turn on her and betray her in some way. Based off what Finn had told her about Charlene's life in this world, Willa figured she had the right to be that way.

The suspicious look Maybeck was giving Jess made Willa feel like things were back to normal. Ever since she had led him into a trap at Space Mountain as Jezebel, Maybeck had always been a little suspicious of her. Maybe this was a sign that he was remembering who he was. Jess kept noticing his stare and returned each one with a roll of the eyes.

Willa almost laughed. At least Jess' personality was still the same.

Willa noticed Finn hesitate before walking over to stand by Amanda. It could have just been Willa, but she saw a look of longing in Amanda's eyes. Finn had told her that Amanda had been given a false memory of him, and that she thought he was dead. Willa now understood how delicate his situation with his own wife was. She hoped and prayed that Philby would remember her soon. She missed him more and more with every second.

As if he had heard her heart beating for him, Philby came jogging up to the group. He stood across the group from her and gave her a quick smirk. She knew that look better than anyone: he had found something and he was excited about it.

She hoped that he had just remembered who he was. _Please, please, please._

"Sorry I'm late," Philby quickly added after staring at Willa for too long. She couldn't read his face well enough to know whether or not he had remembered. She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and let him comfort her, reminding her how much he loved her.

But the time for that was later. Willa's heart dropped in her chest when his gaze moved off of her and toward Charlene.

Finn glanced at her and for a second their eyes met. She could tell that he understood exactly what she was feeling. He straightened up and broke the silence.

"Where's Wayne?" Finn asked Philby.

"He said he'd be along in a few minutes."

Another few seconds of awkward silence.

"Anybody…find anything…uh…interesting?" Finn asked awkwardly. He shifted his weight on his feet and turned to Willa for an answer.

What Willa wanted to say was: _Oh please, Finn,_ _you got yourself into this. How the heck am I supposed to help you out here?_ But instead, she rolled her eyes and glanced at Philby before saying something.

"I…uh…remembered…"

Charlene gasped. "You _did_?"

Willa nodded, stealing random glances at Philby every time she knew he wasn't looking at her. She didn't want to him to see her staring.

"Yes," Willa said in a quiet voice—so quiet she almost didn't hear herself.

"So how come only she remembers?" Jess asked. "Is that because you went with Danny boy over there?" She gestured over to Finn.

"Not exactly," Finn started to explain, but Willa cut him off.

"I just had this feeling that I had been here before," Willa glanced up at Philby and their eyes met for a brief second. She took a deep breath, holding his gaze and continued. "I…I can't explain it…it's just like the floodgates opened and all the memories came back all at once."

Willa watched for Philby's reaction, but all she saw was pain and confusion, as if he knew something but couldn't quite figure out what it was. She wanted nothing more than to run and press her lips on his, in the hope that true love's kiss would solve all their problems. That it could melt away this horrid curse. That it would bring everything back to normal.

"And…what do you remember?" Philby asked her cautiously. The sun was rising behind him, giving him a sort of angelic look. Even though he was across the circle from her, it seemed as if they were the only two out here. She absolutely loved that effect he had on her.

She wanted to tell him that she remembered everything. The first time they all crossed over together. The time she got stuck in SBS and Finn, Maybeck and Philby didn't rest until they found her. The moment she realized she loved Philby. Their first kiss on the cruise ship. How they defeated Jafar together. The day they got married. The day they both graduated from college. How he was there with her through very mood swing while pregnant. The nights they stayed up dealing with their newly born daughter. The way he had promised to find her in this new cursed world.

How their last kiss was so passionate but heartbreaking at the same time.

Willa shook the thoughts out of her head. "I…I…"

"She can't tell any of you what she remembers. It might make it harder for you to remember." Finn saved the day, as usual. Willa gave him a brief look of gratitude.

"Sounds like a bunch of baloney, if you ask me!" Jess said as she rolled her eyes.

"I agree!" Maybeck crossed his arms.

Willa wanted to laugh at the awful look Charlene gave him. Maybe she was starting to remember who she was and how much she loved Maybeck. Maybe she only remembered bits and pieces and was seeing Jess as a threat.

Or she thought he was being a big idiot, which, knowing Charlene as well as Willa did, seemed more probable.

"Ah, so I see you all are getting along! That's just swell." Wayne said as he walked up behind them. Willa felt a few seconds of pure shock at the loudness of his voice, out of old habits. She glanced over at Finn who shrugged, as if to say _he does what he wants_.

"So what now Wayne?" Amanda asked him eagerly. At least Willa wasn't the only one who was eager to change the subject. "We're all together. What's the plan for overthrowing Maleficent?"

"Right now, Your Majesty, there's only one thing the seven of you can do. This'll be easier for Daniel over here, but it's possible."

"And what's that?" Maybeck asked Wayne skeptically. Willa wanted to laugh at his defiance. It was just like old times. Willa was glad his personality hadn't changed in the curse.

"All of you need to fake your deaths and move here permanently."

"WHAT?" Everyone, except Finn, yelled in unison.

"Fi-Daniel," Willa caught herself. "He can't be serious!"

Finn nodded without making eye contact with anyone except the hidden Mickey's lining the cobblestone street.

"Wayne?" Willa asked him in a soft voice. She could tell that he now knew that she remembered. He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It must be done, my dear. You are not safe at your home provinces. This place," he gestured to the castle behind him, "is the only safe place on the planet for the seven of you."

"B-b-but what about Lizzie?"

Wayne gave her a sympathetic look.

"Lizzie?" Philby asked her. She turned to face him and saw some sort of recognition on his face. _What if he remembers?_

"She's my daughter." The two of them locked eyes. If telepathy worked, he would hear her tell him all about her daughter, among other things.

"Oh," he shifted his weight on his feet uncomfortably. _Obviously I need to work on my husband telepathy skills_, Willa though to herself.

"Maybe you could bring her with you?" Charlene blurted out. "How old is she? Having a little girl with us would be a great morale booster! I absolutely _love_ kids!" She almost started jumping up and down with joy.

_It was true, she does love Lizzie._ Willa could remember all the times Charlene would force Willa and Philby to go out so that she could spend time with Lizzie. It happened at least three times a week after she broke off the engagement with Maybeck—something Willa _still_ didn't understand.

"She's 18 months old now." She turned to Wayne. "I can't leave her alone with Spencer. I couldn't do that to her."

"Spencer?" Philby asked. It could have just been her, but he seemed heartbroken. "Is that your...husband?"

"Maleficent _made_ him my husband," Willa retorted harshly, as if it was his fault for all of this—which she knew it wasn't. "My real husband...he...he..." Willa had to pause in order not to burst into tears. "He's…_lost_."

Philby seemed taken back by that statement. Willa wanted him to remember, so that he would pull her into his embrace.

"I...I'm sorry, Willa."

Willa finally dropped her gaze to the street. She couldn't bear it anymore.

"You can bring her if you wish, Willa." Wayne finally added. "But I wouldn't bring a child to our training sessions here."

Willa nodded, still staring at the street.

"So we fake our deaths and come back here? What if we can't just do it right away? Planning that out takes time!" Jess blurted out.

"You have until December 20th to come here."

All seven nodded. "If you come early, there's a few rooms you can stay in. Come see me first, though. Good luck."

* * *

After a brief goodbye to Finn, Willa turned to go so that she could avoid Philby. She didn't want to see him right now, it was just too painful.

She heard footsteps following her on the cobblestone street. Willa braced herself for Philby, but instead she got Charlene.

"Hey Willa! I've got a question to ask."

Willa turned around and gave her a brief, fake smile. "What is it Charlie?"

"Charlie?" Charlene asked thoughtfully. "I like it!"

Willa shrugged. She didn't want to explain the old nickname to her. It would be easier just to let her remember.

"I was wondering if I could come with you." She started mindlessly braiding her hair with her hands, a nervous habit of hers. "You see, I'm a wanted woman back in the 4th province and I can't go back without getting caught. And since you remember now, I figured you could help me. I can take care of your daughter while you're at work, and I won't charge a babysitting fee! I won't get in the way, I promise!"

Willa thought it over. _It would be nice to have Charlene helping out._

"Sure!" Willa concluded. "I'd love to have you help out!"

"Yay!" Charlene wrapped her in a tight hug—one that she gratefully returned.

"It'll be like a girl's mission! It'll be so much fun!"

"Just like old times," Willa added, immediately realizing that Charlene couldn't remember. "Oh, Charlene, I'm sorry. I forgot..."

"No, Willa, you're right." Charlene gave her a smile. "I'm going to remember. Maybe being with you will help me out. Heck! Maybe we'll find your husband while we're at it!" She nudged Willa's shoulder.

Willa smiled weakly at her. "Yeah, maybe we will."

* * *

**So what do y'all think so far? Any thoughts what so ever? I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I can!**

**Please review! I want to know what y'all are thinking when it comes to this story! Any requests, suggestions and opinions are wanted! I absolutely love y'all's feedback! Enjoy your week!**


	10. So Call Me Maybe?

**Hey guys! I got this chapter up faster than I thought! **

KingdomKeeper1121: **Yes I have seen OUAT in Wonderland, but I'm not sure I like it as much as I like OUAT. The special effects are all weird, but it's got a great story. And thanks, I will keep it up! :P**

**So I hope y'all enjoy this chapter as much as the past 9! **

* * *

Chapter 10: So Call Me Maybe?

October 15, 2358  
Province 9, County 15, British Columbia  
North Vancouver High School

_Drip…drip…drip…_

Jess stood in front of the coffeepot, waiting for it to fill with coffee. She needed her energy to get through the day.

She had taken a two-week break from work so that she could get herself together. Not only had she been planning how she was going to fake her death, but she was having more intense dreams.

Last night's dream involved Queen Amanda and Daniel, though he was called Finn. The two had shared a brief kiss before Amanda fainted.

For some reason, Jess had felt an emotional attachment to the queen, as if they had known each other for a long time—which she was positive they had just met two weeks ago. But yet again, Daniel had said they had all known each other for a _long_ time.

Jess sighed. _If only I could remember._

The door that led out of the teacher's lounge opened and shut very quickly.

"Jess," Patrick said from across the room in a quiet voice just loud enough for her to hear it as a whisper.

Jess whirled around and ran into his arms, not caring about the security cameras or the fact that anyone could open the door at any moment.

"I missed you," he whispered into her ear. He let go of her and she smiled up at him. She noticed the scruff on his chin—that could only mean that he was stressed. The only time he didn't shave was when he was stressed.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, lightly tracing his jaw with her finger. The scruff felt good on the tips of her fingers.

"I didn't hear from you for almost three weeks." He looked down at his feet in shame. "I thought something bad had happened to you."

"Oh sweetie," Jess gave him a quick hug. A _beep_ from the coffee ended their hug, and Jess hurried to fill up her cup with the hot beverage. "I was just visiting some family. There was…a funeral."

Even though she had rehearsed the lines over and over, they still felt foreign on her lips.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Jess." He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, kissing her cheek quickly.

"Patrick, you can't do this here. Someone will see, and then something _will_ happen to me…and you."

"I don't care anymore."

Jess whirled around so fast she spilt her coffee all over his shirt. "Patrick, you can't say that!"

The door opened and a fellow teacher walked in. Jess said she was sorry to Patrick over and over again while he used napkins to clean up as much as possible. The teacher eyed them, but said nothing.

Once the teacher was gone for at least a minute, Jess looked over at Patrick with sympathy. She didn't care anymore either, but she didn't want him to get hurt because of her.

She walked up to him and leaned up on her tiptoes so that her mouth would be right next to his ear.

"Meet me at my place late tonight. We've got some stuff to talk about."

Jess walked out the door fast, so that he didn't have a chance to reply.

* * *

The feverish knocks on the front door of her apartment caused Jess to stop in her tracks. She knew it was Patrick, but she was still worried. This was the conversation she had been dreading for two weeks now.

She opened the door and he hurried in, plopping himself down on the couch. On the coffee table, there were old newspaper articles Wayne had loaned to her. The topics ranged from Maleficent's takeover to an ancient place called "Walt Disney World."

Wayne had called it research. She called it boring.

Patrick picked up one article, titled "Small World Vandalized." His eyed it carefully before offering it up to Jess, a questioning look on his face.

"There's a lot we need to talk about," Jess told him. He nodded and patted the spot next to him on the couch. She complied and his arm draped over her shoulder. He kissed her on the top of the head.

"Let's start with where you disappeared to for three weeks."

Jess took a deep breath. She had a huge, deeply rehearsed speech prepared but it all went out the window when he pulled her close.

"I…I had to visit some old friends."

"Jess has friends? Whoa!" Patrick joked. Jess elbowed him in his side and continued—purposely ignoring his lame joke.

"Apparently, I had my memory wiped by Maleficent herself."

Patrick's silence showed her that he was listening.

"If I can regain my memory, I can help the six other people in my same situation defeat Maleficent."

Jess hesitated before looking up at him. She saw confusion in his face, but there was something else. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was heartbreak.

Jess placed a hand on his knee. "Patrick, I don't know if all of this is true, but…I feel like it's the right thing to do."

He nodded, his gaze locked on the pile of newspaper articles on the coffee table.

"So you're not Jess…you're…you're someone…_else_?"

"No, I'm still me," she reassured him. "I just have a different past, that's all."

"You probably have a boyfriend or a husband in that past too," he added bitterly.

Jess turned to him and cupped his chin with her hand. "You're the only man in my life, Patrick. Don't you ever think otherwise."

"But if you had your memory wiped, then you wouldn't remember him."

"Patrick, sweetie," Jess leaned in a little closer so that he would have no choice but to focus on her. "I love _you_. If it turns out that for some odd reason that I had a boyfriend beforehand, we'll deal with that later. _You_ are the one I want to be with."

He leaned in and kissed her on the lips gently. He pulled away too soon and gave her a smile.

"So what do you have to do to get rid of Maleficent?" There was a new gleam in his eyes that she hadn't seen in years. He was excited. Her heart did a little dance seeing how happy he was now.

"Well," Jess picked up a few of the articles. "Right now I've been reading these articles, hoping that something will click together."

Patrick picked up the same article he had shown her earlier. "You think these articles have to do with you? They're all dated in the early 2000's! That was three hundred years ago!"

Jess shrugged. "It somewhat sounds familiar."

Patrick gave her a quizzical look. "Please tell me you're not three hundred years old."

Jess laughed, for the first time in a very long time—if she excluded the quick laughs she shared with Terry Maybeck back in the forbidden district. "No, I'm not."

Patrick let a smirk grow on his face. "You'd be the hottest three hundred year old woman I've ever seen. Too bad you're not three hundred years old…"

Jess elbowed him in the side. "Please, I am the hottest girl you know."

Patrick playfully rolled his eyes and turned back to face the pile of articles. "So what do you expect to find in all of this? Your memories?"

"No," Jess shook her head. "Well, maybe, but…there's something else…"

"What is that?"

"I…I…" Jess put her head in her hands. "I have to leave…forever."

Patrick moved his hand from her shoulder to her lower back. The way he moved it up and down on her back soothed her. It almost made her forget the pain and heartbreak that was about to come.

"Forever?"

"Yes…" Jess turned her head so that she could eye him and watch for his reaction. "Can I trust you that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to say?"

His facial expressions softened. "Of course you can sweetheart."

"I…I've…" Jess swallowed the lump in her throat. "I've got to leave…and I can't come back."

"Why is that?"

"I have to fake my death. I can't be in the system anymore."

He took the time to let the information sink in. "I'll do it with you."

Jess turned to him in a shock. "No, Patrick—"

"Yes!" This time he cupped her chin with his hand. "I want to be with you, Jess, and if you've got to leave, I'm going with you."

"Patrick," Jess felt the tears swell up in her eyes. She was determined not to cry. She didn't cry in front of people, but yet when she was with him she couldn't hold them back.

"Jess," he leaned in so that he didn't need to speak above a soft whisper. "I love you, and if this is the only way we can be together, than so be it."

"Surely there's another way…"

"You're faking your death, Jess. There's obviously no other option."

Jess studied his beautiful face. Even though he had had many hours after school before he came over to her apartment, he hadn't shaved. Jess would be lying if she said she found the scruff unattractive. His short, brown hair and alluring brown eyes made her weak in the knees each time she looked at him. He was possibly the hottest janitor the world had ever seen.

Jess cleared her throat when she realized she had been staring.

"W-w-what about Rose?"

"She can go live with her aunt. It'll be okay."

Jess gave him a look. "She's your _daughter._"

"And I love her very much, but _you_ are my soul mate. We can take her with us if you really want."

"We can't bring her," Jess retorted—probably too fast. "It's not safe for her."

Patrick kissed her on the forehead. "Then we do this together." He turned back to the newspaper pile on the coffee table and started sorting through it again. She could tell that he was sorting the articles by date of publication. It was a habit of his that she found cute.

After watching him for a few minutes, he turned and gave her a smirk.

"Are you going to help me figure out who Jessica Lockhart really is or are you going to stare at me like a love-struck idiot?"

She rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. She leaned forward and started sifting through the articles. "Let's do this."

He quickly kissed her cheek. "Together," he whispered into his ear.

* * *

October 29, 2358  
Province 2, County 1, United Kingdom  
Royal London Hospital

Philby walked into the hospital with a fake smile plastered on his face. He nodded at each of his coworkers as he made his way to the nurses' desk to get his assignments for the day. He took the folder from the receptionist's hand and started sifting through his patients for the day.

For the past month all he could think about was Willa. While he was with Wayne in his apartment, he saw a few framed pictures on one of the dressers that intrigued him.

The one that stuck with him had Philby standing there in a tuxedo with a baby blue tie. He had his arms wrapped around the most beautiful bride in the world—Willa Angelo. She was wearing a strapless white dress that flowed out like a princess gown. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun, with the veil sticking out of it. She was glancing up at him with a smile, a look that he was returning. Underneath it was the date May 22, 2009.

A few things bothered him about that picture. The first was the date. If they truly had their memory wiped, the year would still be from 2358. He didn't understand why the photo was date over 300 years ago. It made no sense.

The second thing that bothered him was that it was a _wedding_ picture. If he and Willa were married, he sure didn't remember it. How could he have forgotten marrying a beautiful girl like her? He wasn't sure about it.

But then after they met up later, she had mentioned that she remembered. Now that he was back in London, Philby was finally realizing that she was so upset because she remembered _him._ He had felt like a horrible person ever since. What kind of husband forgets his own wife?

He sighed dramatically at the thought of her. He didn't realize it was so loud, but someone brought him out of his thoughts.

"Are your assignments _boring_?"

He turned around and saw a beautiful young woman leaning on her elbow that was placed strategically on the desk. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her blue eyes were tempting him, he was sure of that.

"Well don't you look familiar?" She said in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Philby would be lying to himself if he had told himself that he didn't know her. Something about her screamed familiarity. Maybe she was from that supposed past Maleficent had made him forget.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Philby asked her as he closed the folder the nurse had previously given him before she caught him in the act of thinking of Willa.

"Maybe so," she winked at him. "Why don't you take me out tonight and we'll see if you remember me."

Philby raised his eyebrow. He had never met a woman so upfront before. He considered saying yes, but he wasn't sure. He had never seen her here before, but yet she was wearing the white coat of a doctor.

There was also the problem of him having a wife that he didn't remember.

"Do you work here?"

She winked again. "Just started today." She held out her hand for him to shake. "Name's Dr. Alcove." He shook her hand and she leaned in closer. "But you can call me Lauren."

He let go of her hand and eyed her. "Philby."

"So what do you say about that date, _Philby_?"

Before he could answer, she grabbed a sticky note from behind the desk and wrote her number down on it. She opened his folder and stuck it to the first page. She closed the folder and handed it back to him, winking once more.

"So call me, maybe?" She walked past him, winking as she went—as if what she had just said was some kind of inside joke. He turned and watched her leave, humming the tune to some song he couldn't recognize. He glanced back down at the folder, opened it and stared at the number.

Maybe he would call her.

* * *

**So, what do y'all think? Jess and Patrick teaming up together? Lauren and Philby possibly going out on a date? Hmm...what's going to happen next?  
**

**Please review guys! If y'all don't, I just assume you don't like it! I do love reading your reviews, they absolutely make my day! If y'all have any suggestions or random ideas of what you think/want to happen, let me know!**

**Have a wonderful rest of your day! :)**


	11. Ketchup, Blood or Both?

**Thanks for all the great reviews last chapter guys! Just as a reminder, Lauren is a random character from one of my other multi-chapters (for those of you who didn't know who she was).**

**Here's chapter 11! It's a little bit shorter than I wanted, but I think the ending is good just the way it is. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 11: Ketchup, Blood or Both?

November 1, 2358  
Province 12, County 5, Argentina  
Buenos Aires Apartment Sector 98

"Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing!" Charlene squealed at eighteen month old Lizzie. Despite being under the curse, it seemed as if she knew Charlene already.

Lizzie picked up a ball and threw it as best as she could in Charlene's direction.

According to Willa, she could only say a few words but Charlene had yet to hear any of them. She wanted more than anything to hear her say something. Willa told her that Charlene was there when Lizzie was born and that she was named the godmother.

Now that she was spending one-on-one time with her supposed god-daughter, she wanted nothing more than to remember who she was. Despite everything that Willa told her, none of it clicked.

Charlene picked up the ball and rolled it in Lizzie's direction, when she heard the front door open. She glanced down at her watch and saw that it was 3:48 P.M. Willa didn't come home until 5, so it had to be her aloof husband.

_Speak of the devil_, Charlene thought as Spencer stumbled into the living room.

He nodded at Charlene to acknowledge her and walked right past the two of them into the bedroom.

Charlene shrugged and went back to playing with Lizzie. Lizzie looked up at Charlene with a confused look. Charlene's eyes went wide. _That's not good._

"Oh no," Charlene scooped her up and started bouncing her up and down as she walked over to the kitchen to grab her something to drink. "You're not going to cry, Lizzie. We won't have that again."

She handed Lizzie the bottle of apple juice and she began to drink it. Charlene's shoulders slumped as she relaxed. Lizzie stopped drinking and looked back up at her again.

"Da-da?"

"No, sweetie," Charlene told her. "I'm Charlene." She said her name slowly so that she could emphasize each syllable.

"Ch-ch-arlie?" Lizzie slowly said, as if each syllable was painful and hard to spit out.

"Yes!" Charlene blurted out. "Yes! Charlie!"

Lizzie's confused look turned to a beautiful smile. Charlene could definitely tell that she was Willa's daughter based off that alone. Her light brown hair had a hint of red and her blue eyes always sparkled. Willa claimed that her daughter got her looks from her husband, but the memory of him seemed too painful for her to elaborate.

"Charlene!" Spencer yelled from across the house.

Charlene rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Come in here!"

Charlene rolled her eyes again and burst into his bedroom with Lizzie still sitting on her hip. "What do you want Spencer?"

Spencer ignored her and held out his arms to take Lizzie. "Come to daddy!"

Lizzie held onto Charlene tighter, mumbling something incoherent into her shirt.

"Stupid girl," Spencer mumbled as he crossed his arms. He looked up at Charlene. "Why don't you go out? I want some time with my daughter."

Something about the mischievous look in his eyes ran chills down her spine. Charlene took a step back from him. "I'm good."

Spencer stood up. He smirked at her, which was anything but good for her. "Okay, I see how it is. Lizzie, why don't you go run along and play. Charlene and daddy are going to have a little talk."

Lizzie shook her head. "I wanna be with Charlie."

"We don't always get what we want, Lizzie. Go."

Lizzie held on tight to Charlene's shirt, but Spencer managed to wrangle her from the shirt and lead her to the living room. Charlene tried to convince herself that he just wanted to talk about Willa. Maybe he wanted to do something nice for her and wanted help.

She glanced around the room and saw an unopened bottle of whiskey on the bedside table. Charlene gulped. _This can't be good._

The bedroom door slammed, and she whirled around to see Spencer leaning on it. "I've been wanting to do this ever since you came home with that stupid wife of mine."

Before Charlene could defend Willa, he walked up to her and forced his lips on hers.

Charlene tried to push him off, but the grip he had on her arm tightened—threatening to cut off circulation.

He ended the kiss and pushed her down on the bed. He took off his shirt and moved in for another kiss. All Charlene could do was freeze in shock. As he moved in for that second kiss, Charlene stood up a little bit too fast and turned at just the right moment so that he would fall onto the bed without her.

He gaped at her and tried to stand up, but she placed her foot on top of his chest.

"Don't even think about it."

For a second, she thought she would be able to leave without having to worry about him. But then that second ended.

He grabbed her foot before she could move it and used it to toss her back off the bed. Charlene's back landed against the wall hard. She saw black spots in her vision, but she willed them to go away.

Spencer got off of the bed and started toward her. She stood up and grabbed Spencer's wrist, judo-flipping him over her shoulder. The sound of him hitting the wall sickened her, but she didn't feel any sympathy for him.

She turned around and put her hand on his chest, just to make sure he was still breathing—which he was. She looked him over very fast to see if there was any cuts, which there weren't.

Charlene heard Lizzie crying from the living room and she slowly exited the room, making sure to close the bedroom door quietly.

By the time she got to Lizzie, Willa was in the room comforting her crying daughter. Willa looked up at Charlene and gave her a confused look, as if to ask _why did you leave my daughter alone and crying?_

"What's going on?" She asked her.

All at once, the guilt of what she had just done came crashing down on Charlene. She plopped down on the couch and buried her head in her hands.

"He went after me, so..."

"So _what_?" Willa asked as she sat next to Charlene on the couch. She had Lizzie sitting in her lap and her free hand went onto Charlene's back.

"I…I kind of judo-flipped Spencer onto the wall." Charlene glanced up at Willa for her reaction.

Willa did the last thing that was ever expected: she laughed. Even Lizzie looked at her strangely.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I've wanted to do that for ten months now!" She leaned her head back onto the couch and continued to laugh. Once she had composed herself she patted Charlene on the back one more time before standing up.

"What do we do now?" Charlene asked her.

"Well, I think we've got a pretty good excuse to fake my death now!" She handed Lizzie to Charlene and scurried off to the kitchen. Charlene followed her.

In the kitchen, Willa was grabbing a bottle of ketchup and a large butcher knife. She hurried back into the bedroom and started spraying ketchup all around the room. But it wasn't random, it was in certain directions. She sprayed a lot of it on Spencer and the area around him. Some of it made it onto the bed, to make it look like he had been dragged from the bed to his current location. She sprayed some on the walls. She spilled ketchup on the knife, and placed it in Spencer's hand. She grabbed a t-shirt out of the dresser and smeared ketchup on it as well, laying it on the edge of the bed.

Charlene gasped when she realized what she was doing. She was making it look like Spencer had killed Willa. Willa turned to Charlene with a smirk on her face.

"Go pack as much of Lizzie's things as you can. I'm going to pack ours. Meet me in the car in fifteen minutes!"

"Where are we going?"

Willa stopped packing and turned to face Charlene. "We're heading back to the forbidden district, Charlene. It's time we get your memory back and defeat that evil witch."

To say Charlene was shocked was an understatement. She studied Willa's face and, for the first time since they had met a month ago, she was happy.

Who would've thought that having an unconscious husband and a fake murder scene would bring happiness to the most innocent girl Charlene knew?

Charlene gave her a smile, nodded, and left the room. She headed into Lizzie's room and started shoving stuff into a suitcase that just happened to be in the back of the closet. It was time to get her life back. She was determined to do so.

* * *

October 30, 2358  
Province 6, County 20, Turkey  
Third Street Bakery, Istanbul

"You know the plan?" Maybeck asked the random rebel soldier over the phone.

"You bet. See you back in the alleyway at noon." The soldier hung up the phone and Maybeck walked out of the bathroom and back to the table.

This morning, he was eating a nice breakfast with Adam Washington. Of course his partner didn't know this would be their last meal together, but Maybeck wasn't about to tell him that.

"Took you long enough," Washington scoffed.

"My mom called," Maybeck lied. He hated lying to his best friend, but it had to be done. Helping the rebel cause was the first of many lies to come, and now his fake death would be his last. He hated leaving his friend on a lie. He wanted to sit down and tell him everything about the past month.

He wanted to tell him about how the girl of his dreams was there at the forbidden district within arms reach, and he choked. He wanted to tell him about how all he had done for the past month was dream of her and plan how he was going to fake his death. He wanted to so badly it almost hurt.

"Never heard about you talk about your mom before," Washington said with a mouthful of donuts.

_That's 'cause she's dead,_ Maybeck thought to himself. "Uh…she lives across the province. We don't speak much."

"How come?"

_Dang, he's nosy._

"She wasn't married when she had me. When she finally met the 'perfect guy,' I was…uh…twenty…and she moved across the province and now we barely talk."

"Sad story bro," Washington put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that."

Maybeck brushed his hand off of his shoulder. "No big deal. So," he stood up and clasped his hands together, "let's get the patrol started."

Washington nodded. Maybeck headed to the car, nervously checking his watch as he went. It was now ten o'clock in the morning. He had to be in the alleyway at noon. He knew he could do it.

Frankly, he didn't have a choice.

* * *

With his gun held out in front of him, Maybeck slowly moved down the alley. It had taken a lot of convincing, but Washington was going around the long way, in case of a runner—which Maybeck knew there wouldn't be.

He heard the sound of someone standing on a leaf and he turned to the direction. Standing there was a rebel soldier, presumably the one he talked to on the phone earlier.

"You him?" He whispered into the empty alley.

Maybeck nodded.

The soldier waved him over and Maybeck slowly made his way over, so that the sound of his footsteps wouldn't echo throughout the alley, alerting Washington.

_CLICK._

Maybeck turned around just in time to see a third person pointing a gun at his heart. He noticed Washington creeping up behind the man. Maybeck held up his gun to counteract the random gunman.

The man pointing the gun at his chest laughed. "You think this would work Maybeck?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I know all about you. I know where you're _really_ from, who you _really_ are, _everything_."

Maybeck clicked a bullet into position. His finger laid on the trigger, ready to push it at any second. "You're lying."

The gunman raised an eyebrow. His wily grin didn't settle well with Maybeck. He seemed to familiar. _Why?_

"Am I lying, Maybeck?"

Maybeck nodded to Washington, who proceeded to tackle the gunman from behind. But it was too late for Maybeck, for as he was being tackled, his finger pulled the trigger.

The impact of the bullet hitting his right leg above the knee knocked him over. Maybeck had been through a lot of pain before, but never anything like this.

"MAYBECK!" Washington yelled.

Maybeck heard the scurrying of feet through the alley, probably the gunman getting away, if he had to guess.

He noticed Washington hovering over him now, trying to apply pressure to his gun wound.

"I've got an officer down in the alleyway behind apartment block 15. I need a medic NOW!" He yelled into the radio.

Maybeck's eyes started feeling heavy. The pain was too much to handle. There was way too much blood being lost for just getting shot in the knee. He started closing his eyes, just for a quick nap.

"Maybeck, you stay with me!" Washington yelled before he slapped Maybeck across the face.

Maybeck tried to form a goodbye, but his throat was dry.

Despite his partner's orders, he slowly slipped into the black abyss and closed his eyes.

* * *

**Duh...duh...duh...**

**Maybeck got shot? Hmm...is he going to make it? Is Washington going to figure out what's going on? **

**Who was the third gunman? Any ideas? (Hint: it's someone you've seen before either in my multi-chapters or the actual books.) I'd love to hear who you think it is! I want to know if any of you get it right!**

**Please review! I got 8 reviews on the last chapter, I know y'all can beat that! It's a challenge! **

**I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I can! It's got Finn and Amanda! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)**


	12. Old Habits Die Hard

**So here's the next chapter! Those who love Finn-Amanda are going to have a ball with this one! I LOVE this chapter so much I couldn't wait to put it on here so I could share it! It's my favorite so far in this story. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as me!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Old Habits Die Hard

November 12, 2358  
Province 1, County 1, Iberian Peninsula  
Royal Palace—Barcelona

Finn slowly opened his eyes. The pearl white ceiling high above his head still amazed him each time he woke up here in the royal palace. While he was here with Amanda, they had gotten closer, but she still didn't remember. Finn wasn't sure whether or not to be worried. He didn't know how many of his friends were remembering on their two month hiatus.

He sat up in the giant bed and accidentally bumped Amanda with his shoulder. He paused, making sure he didn't wake her up. She stirred, mumbling something in her sleep, but did not wake up. Finn took a deep breath and slowly got out of the bed.

He grabbed his jacket off of the chair not too far away from the bed and pulled it on. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked back at his wife. It didn't matter that they had been separated for ten months, she was still as beautiful as ever. It hurt that she still didn't remember him, but that didn't matter. They had been living together since October 1st, which was a huge step for him.

What still confused him, was the fact that she had false memories of Finn. According to her, she had been married to Prince Finn for four years before he died. A lot of the stories she had of him were almost exactly like things that had actually happened to them, with a few minor differences. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been reminded of that strange dream he had while in a two-month coma over a year ago.

Amanda thought she had lost Finn, so he understood her confusion when he showed up to give her the letter a few months ago.

Finn glanced back at Amanda. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but he knew better. He didn't want to force their relationship on her. He couldn't just be like _Oh, by the way, I'm your husband, but you don't remember me._ Life didn't work that way.

_It would be easier if it did,_ Finn thought to himself.

Instead of kissing her, he moved a loose piece of hair behind her ear and went into the bathroom to change.

When he came back, Amanda was sitting up in bed with a book lying across her legs. She glanced up at him and a huge smile grew on her face.

"Good morning," her cheerful voice was music to his ears.

"Morning sweetheart," Finn clasped his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. Old habits had been resurfacing more and more, and Finn was having a hard time killing them around the "cursed" Amanda (per se).

Amanda laughed at his reaction. "You're fine, Daniel." She patted the spot on the bed next to her, urging him to come sit next to her. He scooted in next to her and almost put his arm around her, but stopped himself.

"What are you looking at?" He asked her, motioning to the book on her lap.

"It's Finn's journal."

Finn snorted. Amanda turned her head and looked up at him with a confused look. Finn composed himself, covering up the snort with a cough. "Sorry, I…I just didn't think he was a journal-writing person."

Amanda nudged him with her elbow. "You never met him. How do you know?"

"I just had a feeling."

Finn wanted to laugh at the irony of this situation, but he refrained. Maybe when she got her memories back, they would look back at this and laugh.

"Why are you reading it?" He asked her, out of curiosity. The Finn she thought she knew had been dead for four years.

Amanda looked back down at the book, playing with the edge of one of the pages with her right hand. "This is the last entry, the day before he died."

Finn leaned in closer. The writing looked just like his. Maleficent had obviously gone to great lengths to make Amanda's "Finn" look like the right one.

"What did he write about?"

"This entry basically warns me about Maleficent. He…he was worried that she would come after me too. He…" A tear formed in the corner in her eye. "He thought dying would protect me from her. That his death would save me from her."

Finn couldn't help it his heart dropping in his chest. That was something he has told her before and her reaction was still the same. Amanda wiped the tear as if fell down her cheek and looked up at him.

"Why would he do that? Why would he purposely take the poison, knowing that he would leave me all alone? Why would he do something like that?"

Finn felt his throat go dry. He didn't know what to say. If taking poison would protect Amanda, he would choose the poison every time. He cleared his throat.

"When you love someone, you have to do whatever you can to protect them."

Amanda's expression turned to confusion. "Have you ever been in love Daniel?"

Finn leaned in closer. Now they were only inches away from each other's faces. They had a conversation almost identical to this one when he had first told her that he loved her—all the way back in tenth grade.

He had been so nervous to tell her, afraid that she wouldn't say it back. She had had a horrible day and was on the verge of tears. When he tried comforting her, she asked him the same question.

_"Have you ever been in love Finn?"_

_"Yes, Amanda. I'm in love right now…with…you."_

If Finn had learned one thing from his time with Amanda, it was that old habits die hard. He leaned in a little bit more.

"Yes, I…I'm in love with the most amazing girl."

Amanda looked him in the eyes and he saw all kinds of beautiful. He saw the same mystery from a broken past that she had when they had first met. Over the twelve years they had known each other, that mysterious look turned to one of pure joy—something Finn prided himself on.

"And, who's the lucky girl?"

"Her name's Amanda." Finn leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her on the lips—something he had been longing to do for eleven long months.

Finn hoped that true love's kiss would bring back her memories. He placed a hand on her cheek as he pulled away slowly from their kiss.

She looked up at him and smiled. _She remembers!_ Finn wanted to jump up and down. He resisted kissing her again.

Amanda broke eye contact and stared at her hands. "I'm so sorry Daniel. I shouldn't have led you on like that."

Finn's heart broke in several pieces. "What?"

"You remember everything…and I don't. You're in love with another Amanda. One…one that's not me." Amanda got off of the bed and put the journal back on the bedside table. "I shouldn't have led you on like that. I'm sorry."

She headed for the door, but Finn didn't have the courage to stop her.

She didn't remember. True love's kiss didn't work. It's supposed to be the most powerful thing in the world. It's supposed to break all curses and be the answer to everything. Finn felt like his world had stopped moving.

Maybe that's the reason why it didn't work. Maleficent knew that he would try this. She knew that he would do anything for her. She planned for this. He had to think outside the box to find a way to bring back her memories.

Thinking outside the box to defeat an evil green fairy? That was one old habit he was glad he hadn't grown out of.

* * *

Amanda couldn't stop the tears. She wanted to remember who Daniel was. She wanted to believe that she could love him. She wanted to believe it. But the memory of Finn kept standing in the way. How could she betray him like that? She knew he would want her to be happy, but if that meant loving another man, how could he be happy with that? Better yet, how could _she_ be happy with that?

Amanda walked down the hall avoiding the eye of every servant who walked by her. They would curtsy, saying "hello, Your Majesty," but she was ignoring them—something she _never_ did. They got the message that something was wrong and were kind enough not to ask.

She was about to round the corner when she heard someone call her name.

"AMANDA!" The footsteps echoed in the long hallway. They seemed to be coming at a fast pace, as if someone was running. It didn't take much for her to realize that that someone was Daniel.

She turned slowly, wiping the tears from her face before he got close enough to see them. He reached her, took a moment to catch his breath, and took her hands in his.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. This is my fault. Will you forgive me?"

Before she had the chance to answer, the bells started ringing. Amanda's eyes went wide: someone was attacking the castle.

As they had practice, Daniel stepped out of the way, letting her hurry back to her room in front of him. He was right behind, and knowing that he was there made her feel safer already.

She reached her bedroom, threw open the door and ran into one of the corners. She tried her hardest to remove one of the tiles, but she couldn't. Daniel slammed the door shut and removed the tile, revealing at secret passage.

He helped her down into the room below and jumped down after himself, doing his best to cover up the tile before doing so.

In the dark room, she somehow found his hand. Not only did she feel safe, she felt needed. She could tell that he needed her as much as she needed him. It felt good to have that kind of relationship again.

They slowly made their way through the dark secret passageway. If she was being honest, Amanda only vaguely remembered where she was going. The last time she had been down here was with Finn. He had commissioned the building of this tunnel, and a few others, for occasions like this.

No one except Amanda had known that he was worried about Maleficent, not some random invaders.

The hallway ran into another, forming a T. Amanda went to the left without thinking twice. She knew that if she hesitated, Daniel would get suspicious and start to doubt how well she knew the tunnels. She wanted to prove to him that she was brave enough to survive on her own, despite the fact that she was frightened.

The hallway turned into another T and this time Amanda went right. She had maybe taken three steps into the new hallway when she ran smack into someone.

Amanda composed herself to see a girl, probably a few years older than her, with black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing all black, making it harder for Amanda to pinpoint her exact location when she stepped away.

Daniel gasped. "Storey?"

Storey looked up from Amanda and moved toward Daniel. She searched for some kind of recognition on his face, gasping when she found it.

"Oh my gosh! Finn! It's really you!" She flung herself at him. Daniel seemed a little reluctant to hug her back, but he did.

Amanda froze with shock. Storey just called Daniel _Finn_.

She ended the hug and looked at him at arm's length. "Wow, you've changed a lot since that cruise!"

"That was almost ten years ago, Storey." Daniel pushed her off of him. "How do you remember who I am?"

Her head turned to the side with confusion. "What are you talking about? How could I _forget_ you?"

"Uh…Maleficent created all of this," Daniel gestured to their surroundings. "None of this is real."

"Of course it is!" Storey punched Daniel in the arm. "But we're going to get back to Florida, trust me. I'm here to help you guys, just like before!"

"Wayne told me I was the only one who would remember. How come you know everything?"

Storey eyed Amanda with a suspicious glance. It could have just been Amanda, but it seemed as if Storey was a little jealous of her. _Is this the girl he's with? Was I just a one-time thing for him? Did he ever love me at all?_

Amanda shook the thought out of her head. She promised herself she wouldn't fall for another man after Finn's death. She wasn't going to let Storey get to her. Amanda was not going to allow herself to get jealous.

"I never forgot," Storey said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Daniel looked about as stunned as Amanda did. "Now come on, we've got to go. My partner's not going to wait forever."

Storey grabbed Daniel's arm and started pulling him down the hall. He wiggled his arm out of her grasp and stood back by Amanda. "Who's your partner, Storey? Did you set off the alarm so that we would get out of there?"

The gleam in Storey's eyes was all the answer Amanda needed. Subconsciously, she reached for Daniel's hand. He gave her hand a light squeeze without a glance her way. He was too focused in on Storey right now. She could tell that he wasn't going anywhere until he got some answers.

"You'll have to wait and see. We better hurry if we want to get out of here unscathed."

Storey turned on her heel and hurried down the hallway. Amanda glanced up at Daniel. He looked down at her and shrugged.

"I guess we have to trust her."

"Is she…you know…the girl you fell in love with?"

Daniel looked pained by her question, which confused Amanda even more.

"Amanda," Daniel squeezed her hand again and took a deep breath. "I fell in love with a girl named Amanda, remember?"

"Oh right," Amanda lowered her gaze to her feet. "Just like I fell in love with a Finn."

She didn't have to look up at him. She knew that he was looking at her. She could feel his gaze on her.

"Yeah, exactly."

"She called you Finn," Amanda said in a small voice. "Why is that?"

Daniel used his free hand to move her chin upward so that she would have no choice but to look up at him. "Because that's my real name."

"Are you two done with your love fest? Finn, just kiss her and move on! We can't keep him waiting!" Storey yelled from the end of the hallway.

Finn gave Amanda a quick smile and kissed her on the cheek. "I promise I'll explain as soon as we have some time alone, okay?" He asked her in a voice so quiet she almost didn't hear it.

Amanda nodded and Finn led her down the hallway toward Storey.

* * *

They walked in the tunnels for about half an hour more before Storey held up a hand, silencing Finn and Amanda.

Even though Amanda looked confused and in shock of the revelations from earlier, she still held onto his hand as if her life depended on it. Finn had to keep suppressing a smile. It was just like old times. That was one habit of hers that no curse could erase—her subconscious need to cling to him as if her life depended on it. It had always been this way with both of them, especially after they had started dating. They both craved the touch of the other. Without her hand in his, Finn knew he would have already had a mental breakdown trying to figure out who Storey's partner was or why Storey remembered everything, despite the curse.

Storey turned around and looked at them. "He's in there. I'll let you two go in first." She faced Finn. "He's been waiting to talk to you for some time now."

She moved out of the way and Finn stepped forward warily. He stepped through the doorway and into an open room. On the far side of the room was a wooden chair, built like a throne.

In that chair was the devil himself, at least in Finn's mind: Marcus, Jess' insane older brother who had an unhealthy obsession with Amanda.

Finn could feel the anger boiling up inside of him. It would probably only take one comment for him to burst into a million pieces and for his anger to be unleashed on Marcus.

Finn hadn't seen him since the Greg Luowski murder investigation, when he had punched him in the face in Amanda's apartment. He wanted nothing more than to punch him again, especially when he saw the way Marcus was looking at Amanda now.

Finn spun around and glared at Storey in the doorway. "_He's_ your partner?"

"What's wrong?" She asked him. It was almost as if she was teasing him. _She _wants_ me to punch him!_ "He said you two got along."

Finn let go of Amanda's hand and walked up to Marcus.

"You better tell me why you wanted to see us now before I punch you in the face again! The only reason you didn't get any permanent damage was because of your sister! You better be thankful that she walked in right then! I'm not afraid to continue that fight right here right now!"

Marcus raised an eyebrow then burst out into laughter. Marcus stood up and walked up to him until he was inches from Finn's face.

"I didn't come for _you_, I came for her." Marcus moved past Finn, making sure to bump shoulders with him. He walked up to a confused Amanda and knelt down on one knee in front of her. "Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Again?" Amanda looked over at Finn for answers. He didn't want to give anything away. If there was one good thing about this curse, it was that Amanda didn't have to remember who Marcus was and what he had done to her—or _almost_ done as Jess would say.

Marcus stood up and winked at her. "Yes ma'am. I'm from that past you don't remember yet. But I'm here to help."

"Help with what?" He asked Marcus. It was more of a command than a question. He demanded to know what he was up to this instant.

"With overthrowing Maleficent of course!" He walked back to his makeshift wooden throne and plopped down in the seat. "It's time we show her who's boss!"

Finn clenched his fists to stop the shaking—so far it wasn't working. The anger was boiling up inside of him like lava stewing inside a volcano. He was ready to burst at a moment's notice, all he needed was something to trigger the explosion.

"You want to help us overthrow Maleficent?" Amanda asked Marcus. She walked up to where Finn was standing and put a hand on his arm, instantly calming him down a little bit. He could feel the anger dwindle a little. He didn't dare look at Amanda. He didn't want to take his eyes off of Marcus for a second.

"Of course baby cakes!" Marcus winked at Amanda.

The lava exploded inside of Finn's internal volcano. Nobody called his wife "baby cakes," especially not Marcus.

"Oh shut up!" Finn rolled his eyes and walked up to him. "I've had enough of you already." He punched him in the face. "We don't want any of your help, Marcus."

Finn turned on his heels and walked toward the door, grabbing Amanda as he went.

"Finn," Storey scolded him. "That wasn't very smart."

Finn shrugged. "Old habits die hard, I guess. He deserves it after what he did to Amanda."

Amanda didn't question what he had just said, which surprised him. Finn pushed past Storey and headed back into the tunnels. After walking for a few minutes, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure neither of them were following them.

He stopped, finally letting go of Amanda's hand. He leaned up against the wall, catching his breath and finally taking the time to let the knowledge of Storey and Marcus sink in.

He slowly sank down to the floor and rested his head on his knees. Amanda sat next to him, so close there was no space in between them. He picked his head up and looked at her, expecting her to say something, _anything._ Instead, Amanda put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"What did Marcus do to your Amanda?"

Finn sighed, clasping his hands together and resting them on one of his knees. "He…he has an unhealthy obsession with…her." He almost said you, but she had said _your Amanda._ She didn't quite remember yet. Maybe if he talked about this, she would.

He took a deep breath and continued. "Once when she was thirteen, she and her sister lived with him and he got her into some bad habits. He tried to use her in horrible ways."

"So was Marcus her brother?"

"No…Amanda's sister isn't her _sister_, they were in an orphanage of sorts together and claimed to be sisters, but weren't really. Marcus was her 'sister's' biological brother."

"Oh," Amanda rested her left hand on top of his. "So he took advantage of her, basically?"

"Basically."

Finn unclasped his hands and intertwined his fingers with hers. They sat in silence for a little bit and Finn was more than happy to welcome it. He didn't want to talk about Marcus. He hated Marcus—and Finn didn't hate very many people. He could count the number of people he hated on a single hand. One of those fingers belonged to Maleficent, the middle one to be exact.

"I can see why you're mad at him," Amanda said quietly. "You must really love your Amanda a lot."

Finn glanced down at her, but she couldn't see him. When he looked at her, he saw twelve years of happiness. Twelve years of chasing after her. Twelve years of wanting to kiss her. Twelve years of beautiful friendship. Twelve years of _her._

"Yes," Finn whispered as a smile grew on his face. "She's the love of my life."

"I hope you get her back someday," Amanda said as she squeezed his hand. "At least one of us can have our happy endings."

Finn wanted to punch Maleficent in the face with that statement. "Maybe your Finn didn't really die," he blurted out without thinking. "You two can reunite and have your happy ending together."

Amanda shook her head, refusing to believe what he had said. "He's gone. There's nothing I can do about that."

"He might be closer than you thought."

Finn was banging his head on a desk inside his mind. He really needed to shut up. Something about her always made him this way, talking before thinking. It was as if the floodgates were opened and his mouth was speaking any random thought his mind had.

Amanda said nothing, which Finn hoped was a good sign. He kissed the top of her head. "Do you want to head back to your room? They're probably looking for you."

"Let them."

"What?"

Amanda picked up her head and looked up at Finn. He could tell she had wiped away a few recent tears during their conversation just now. A smirk grew on her face. "I think I just faked my death."

Finn smiled and stood up, helping Amanda as well. Finn suddenly thought of the best reference to one of Amanda's favorite movies. He couldn't help the smirk that grew on his face.

"What are you smirking about?" She asked him.

Finn took a deep breath and turned around, beginning to sing the parody that just popped in his head as he walked away from her. "Ding dong the queen is dead. Which old queen? The wicked queen!"

"The wicked queen!" Amanda blurted as she followed him.

Finn shrugged and glanced to his side, happy to see that she was right there. "It's how the song goes! I can't change the words!"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Shut it Daniel. Or would you prefer I call you Finn, like Storey did?"

"Whichever you like, your wickedness." He mockingly bowed quickly to emphasize his point.

Amanda punched him in the arm. "Finn's your real name, so Finn's the name I'm going to call you. But if you call me your wickedness again…"

"What, you'll _banish_ me?"

"No," Amanda stopped. Finn stopped and turned to face her. "I won't do _this_ anymore."

"You won't do what anymore?"

She walked up to Finn and pressed her lips onto his. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. He wasn't stopping anytime soon either—that old habit was one he was determined to keep alive, no matter what.

* * *

**I don't own rights to the Wizard of Oz or anything associated with it. **

**I hope y'all appreciated the Marcus/"Whodunnit" references. I told you the stories were all connected together! I wasn't joking around with that!**

**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter as much as I do! Please review! I'd love to hear what you think (good and/or bad)! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Enjoy the your week! :)**


	13. The Walking Dead

**I don't often quote reviews, but when I do it's a quote like this:**

**"TO SEE THE IMPROVEMENT IS TO SEE THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN" **-her-eyes-fiery-pinpricks

**I literally laughed for the longest time when reading this! I keep laughing each time I read it! **

**If you thought last chapter was great, just wait and see what I've got in store for the next few chapters! I'm about to blow your minds guys (Hint...hint...). Stuff's getting real guys. I had to split up this chapter into 3 because it had so much stuff in it! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13: The Walking Dead

November 23, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Buena Vista Power Plant

10 A.M.

Maybeck could not have been happier to be with Charlene at the power plant.

Ever since getting shot by that random guy back in Istanbul, Maybeck had done nothing but dream of her. He was having a hard time resisting the urge to kiss her every chance they were alone together—which had happened a lot since they both showed up in the forbidden district.

This morning, Wayne had suggested they clean up the mess at the old abandoned power plant a few minute's drive outside of the park, which Wayne had called "Magic Kingdom." Honestly, Maybeck didn't see anything "magical" about it. If it was truly "magical," he would have gotten his memories restored already.

Maybeck opened the door for Charlene, wincing at the pain in his side, but trying his hardest not to show it on his face. He hadn't told any of his friends that he had been shot—except for Willa, but she had guessed that he was injured, which was different.

"Thank you," she said as she slipped into the building. She pulled out the sticky note that had Wayne's map drawn on it with a red pen. He had specifically asked for the control room to be cleaned today—something about using it later for their plan.

Maybeck wasn't a clean freak, but seeing how messy the power plant was, he had the sudden urge to become one, just this once. The easiest way he could explain the mess was to say that a ton of people had left in a hurry, making sure to knock over everything on their way out. Chairs were thrown around, papers spread all over the place, lighting fixtures dangling at strange angles.

He had a strange feeling he had seen a scene similar to this in a movie or television show once. The word "walkers" came to mind, but he didn't know why. He was pretty sure nobody had "walked" out of this building.

Charlene stopped at a door at the end of the hallway and faced Maybeck.

"This is it," she said to him. She seemed just as scared as he was. Maybe they had watched the same show together.

"What are you waiting for?" He motioned to the doorknob. "Go ahead and open it."

Charlene knitted her eyebrows. "I…this place…it seems familiar."

Maybeck glanced behind him at the creepy hallway. "It looks like something out of a TV show or movie."

He glanced back at Charlene and saw her deep in thought. "Yeah," she looked him in the eye. "It does look like it came straight out of a movie. But that's not what I was talking about."

"Oh you mean, like…you think you've been here before?"

Charlene nodded and opened the door. Inside, the control room looked untouched.

"Why did he ask us to clean up this room if it's already spotless?" Maybeck crossed his arms in frustration. "I'll never understand that crazy old man."

Charlene knit her eyebrows in frustration and put her hands in her jacket pockets. Both of them heard the crumbling of paper in the silent room. Charlene pulled her hand out of the pocket, revealing a crumbled up piece of paper.

"This wasn't here before," Charlene muttered as she opened it up.

"What does it say?" He asked her as he moved to look over her shoulder as she read the note.

"Find the fob." Charlene glanced back at Maybeck. "What does that mean?"

Maybeck reached over her shoulder and took the note, stretching his arm a little bit too far. He could feel the wound on his stomach muscle open up. He could feel the blood rushing out, the red color spreading on the giant bandage across his stomach.

Maybeck let out a grunt as he stumbled back, running into the desk.

"Maybeck!" Charlene yelled as she hurried over to him. Maybeck swatted her hand away as she reached for his stomach. "What's wrong?"

"It's…it's nothing," he winced at the pain talking as causing him.

"No it's not. Let me see." She lifted up his shirt, despite his desperate attempts at swatting her hand away. Her beautiful blue eyes went wide when she saw the bandage.

"Maybeck," she said in a quiet whisper. "What happened?"

"I…" He took a shaky breath. "I...got shot."

Before she could ask anymore questions, he decided to beat her to the punch.

"I was trying to fake my death. One…one of the rebel soldiers was…was going t-t-to pretend to shoot me, but…but someone got to me first."

"Do you know who it was?" Charlene wasn't looking at the wound anymore. Her eyes were locked on his. Maybeck shook his head. "Oh Maybeck, why didn't you say anything?"

"I…I didn't want to worry you."

Charlene sighed, probably out of frustration. He couldn't tell, for his vision was beginning to blur.

"I'm worried now," she mumbled, her eyes still locked on the bandage. "Your little trick didn't work."

Maybeck shifted on the desk and winced at the pain. Charlene's hands hovered over the bandage.

"I…I should take this off, so I can," she gulped, "see how bad your wound is."

She started to pull off the wound, but Maybeck put a hand on top of hers, stopping her.

"Charlene, stop."

Charlene looked up at him with a confused look. "Maybeck, I—"

"I've been dreaming about you for almost a year now," Maybeck blurted out before he could stop myself.

Charlene moved back a few inches. "What?"

Maybeck took another shaky breath and continued. "There's something about you that seems so familiar, Charlene. I can't help but…think that you and I…were meant to be together."

Charlene shook her head. Maybeck noticed a tear forming in her left eye. He wanted nothing more than to wipe it away, but he couldn't gain the strength to do so.

"Maybeck?" She asked him in a barely audible whisper. "What are you suggesting?"

Maybeck studied her. He couldn't tell if what he wanted to do was something she wanted. He summoned all of his courage, took another shaky breath and went for it.

"This. " He picked up his right hand and placed it on the back of her neck, pulling her close to him. He pressed his lips on hers.

Maybeck had kissed girls before, but none of the kisses were like this.

The first few seconds were pure magic, something he couldn't have even dreamed of. But after that, the memories came flooding back.

He remembered moving in with his Aunt Jelly at age four. He remembered trying out for the toothpaste commercial and not getting the gig, but being thankful for that later when he became a DHI. He remembered the first time he got stuck in SBS in Space Mountain and how hopeless he felt. He remembered the time that Charlene was under a spell and Philby had encouraged him to kiss her to break it, since neither Philby nor Finn had the guts to do so. He remembered asking her out two months after the cruise and how their relationship had been the best seven months of his life. He remembered Charlene's junior prom, when Willa had forced them to go together and how they had started dating a few days afterward. He remembered the day he left for the army and how passionate her kiss had been. He remembered the day the light bulb turned on and he realized that she was the girl he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He remembered watching her win a gold medal at the Olympics in London, only to propose the second he saw her. He remembered the night she broke off the engagement—but he didn't want to think about that. He remembered promising to find her, just before Maleficent had cursed them all.

He pulled back from the kiss and stared at Charlene, the girl he was hopelessly in love with. He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. He moved his hand from the back of her neck to her cheek.

She smiled back at him, placing her hand on top of his.

"Terry," she whispered. They were only a few inches from each other's faces.

"Charlie," he whispered.

"You found me, just like you promised."

"I don't make promises I don't intend on keeping."

Charlene leaned in the rest of the way, kissing him once more. They hadn't kissed like this since before she broke off the engagement—over a year ago.

She pulled back with a new expression on her face. Her eyes were flickering with recognition and a smile was growing fast on her face.

"Oh my gosh! I remember why this place looks so familiar!"

Maybeck pulled back a little bit, a confused expression growing on his face.

"You said this place looked familiar, like you had seen it in a movie or something?"

Maybeck sat up, trying not to wince at the pain. "I know where I've seen it before, Charlie. We've been here before. Remember that night we crossed over here to stop the Evil Queen and Cruella deVil from turning the power off and freeing Maleficent and Chernabog?"

Charlene rolled her eyes and waved off what he had just said. "The hallways that we _just_ walked through look like a scene out of one of our favorite TV shows!"

Maybeck raised an eyebrow. _Where are you going with this Charlene?_

When he didn't say anything, Charlene threw up her hands in frustration. "It looks like the hospital in the first episode of 'The Walking Dead' out there! You know how Rick just wakes up in the hospital? The hallways outside look like that very scene!"

Maybeck thought it over and suddenly the light bulb clicked on. Charlene was right. Maybeck started laughing. The fact that of all the things she could say to him after remembering who they were, she picked the Walking Dead.

_How did I ever let this girl get away?_

* * *

_Finn was sitting on one of the benches outside of the China pavilion in EPCOT. It had been a few months since he had given everyone the black envelopes. Now all he had to do was wait._

_By now, Finn had found out that he was horrible at waiting. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Barcelona and get his wife back, but he knew that couldn't happen. _

_He wanted someone, _anyone,_ to come and join him in his misery. He hated being alone. If the plan didn't work, and his friends never remembered, he would have to be like this for all eternity. _

_Once upon a time, Maleficent had told him there was a fate worse than death, and this was certainly one of them._

_"You look lonely. Mind if I join you?"_

_Finn looked up and saw his best friend Dillard standing in front of him. He looked the same as he did the day he died—almost ten years ago—except he didn't have the hole in his stomach where Finn had stabbed him._

_"What? How?"_

_"I'll take that as a yes then?" Dillard asked with a smile. Finn nodded, still confused as ever, and Dillard sat down on the bench next to him._

_"How is this possible right now?" Finn kept blinking, assuming that his best friend would disappear as fast as he had appeared._

_Dillard shrugged. "Don't know, don't care." He turned to face Finn. "Can't you and I just talk? Do we have to figure out _how_ I'm here?"_

_"Okay," Finn was still confused. "Uh…how's it going?"_

_Dillard rolled his eyes. "Wow you're just sad."_

_Finn threw up his hands in frustration. "What am I supposed to say? You've been dead for ten years Dillard!" _

_"Well start with the fact that you finally married Amanda!" Dillard punched him in the arm. "It took you long enough!"_

_"Wait, you _know_ about that?"_

_Dillard gave him a _dude-are-you-serious-right-now_ look. "I'm dead! I know everything!"_

_"Oh, 'cause that makes sense."_

_"It does!" Dillard stood up and offered Finn a hand. "Now come on, let's take a walk. I'm tired of sitting around."_

_"Uh, okay," Finn said as he stood up without Dillard's help. "So what do you want to talk about?"_

_Dillard shrugged as he started walking back toward the entrance of the park. "What do _you_ want to talk about?"_

_Finn swallowed. All the guilt he had taken so long to get over came crashing back in a matter of milliseconds._

_ Dillard glanced his way, immediately seeing what Finn was thinking. "No, Finn, don't you start!"_

_"Dillard," Finn felt tears forming in his eyes. "I killed you for crying out loud! At least let me attempt an apology!"_

_"But you didn't kill me!"_

_"I was the one who stabbed you! I felt the knife go in! I felt the life leave your body!"_

_"Finn—"_

_"She wanted me to stab you, and it worked! Do you understand how guilty I've felt for the past ten years?"_

_"Finn—"_

_"It took me years to get the image of you dying in my arms out of my nightmares! I mean they still come back, but at least they're not as frequent. I can't expect you to forgive me, but I…I…"_

_"FINN!"_

_"What?" Finn faced him, tears streaming down his face. _

_"I knew it wasn't you that killed me. Tia Dalma tricked you, that's all."_

_"That's _all?_" Finn thought he would explode._

_"No, Finn, but you need to realize that I didn't mind dying."_

_Finn stared at his friend with wide, confused eyes. _

_"Finn," Dillard lowered his voice to a whisper. "I…I knew she was going after you, that's why I let myself get taken. I knew that if it came to me or you, that I would have to be the one to die."_

_"How did you know that? How come you thought my life was worth more than yours?"_

_"Because you're supposed to save all of freakin' Disney, man! Wayne knew that back then! He didn't ask me to die for you, but he suggested it might come up."_

_"And you just _believed_ him?"_

_"Finn, he didn't have to say anything. You are my best friend. Of course I would have died for you. That wasn't the hard part."_

_"Then…then what was?"_

_"Trying to do it behind your back."_

_"Why—"_

_"Because you would have tried to stop me. And if you had it would have done more bad than good!"_

_Finn took a shaky breath, letting all this information sink in. Dillard placed a hand on his shoulder and Finn pulled him into a hug._

_"I miss you man. It's hard without you."_

_Dillard laughed, which seemed out of place, but Finn missed his laugh so much. "You're doing just fine without me! You've got Amanda, dude! Tell me marrying the hottest girl alive is miserable."_

_Finn pulled out of the hug and rolled his eyes. "I thought you hated her?"_

_"I did at first, I mean she's still a _girl._" Dillard winked at Finn, causing Finn to laugh. _

_Dillard continued walking down the path toward the park's entrance. "So there's something I should warn you about, Finn."_

_Finn caught up to him. "And what is that?"_

_"That Maleficent's out for you dude."_

_Finn gestured to the abandoned park. "I kind of figured that out dude."_

_"No, I mean you _specifically_. She's going to make it really hard for you to beat her and save your friends."_

_"I kind of figured that out already."_

_Dillard stopped again and turned Finn to face him. "Finn, someone's going to die."_

_"How do you know this?"_

_"Like I said, dead people know everything."_

_"Okay, dead Dillard, tell me who it is then?"_

_Dillard punched him in the shoulder. "Dude, I can't tell you that!"_

_"Then why tell me someone's going to die?"_

_"I thought you would like to know beforehand, so you know what you're getting into."_

_Finn closed his eyes, trying to let all the information sink in. He opened them again and Dillard was gone._

* * *

November 23, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Polynesian Resort Hotel

3 A.M.

In her dream, Amanda had suddenly started falling down a pit. The bottom was clear and very, very near. Before she hit the bottom, she forced herself awake.

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She hadn't been falling. It was all just a dream. She looked in front of her and saw Finn sitting at the foot of the bed, instead of sleeping soundly next to her. He had his head in his hands, mumbling something she couldn't make out.

She moved the covers off of her and scooted up to sit beside Daniel. _No, Amanda, his name is Finn. You need to start calling him that._

Amanda put a hand on his back and started rubbing it slowly. "Everything okay Finn?"

Finn glanced up at her with a weak smile, which contrasted the tears slowly falling down each cheek. "You called me Finn."

"It's your name, right? Why wouldn't I?"

Finn shrugged. "You haven't done it until now."

"Well if it bothers you—"

"It doesn't," Finn leaned in a little closer and wiped away the tears from his cheeks. "I'd rather you call me Finn. It makes life seem almost back to normal."

_Almost back to normal_, Amanda repeated in her mind. He knew she couldn't remember her supposed past with him. She couldn't remember the Amanda that Finn had fallen in love with. Not only did it seem to break his heart, but it most definitely frustrated Amanda constantly. She wanted to remember more than anything. Finn reminding her that she hasn't remembered yet hit her like a ton of bricks.

Amanda turned her gaze to the floor, clasping her hands together and laying them in her lap. "What's wrong?"

Finn hesitated. Amanda figured he had no clue what she was talking about, but eventually he found his voice.

"I had a bad dream."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Amanda glanced over her shoulder and saw the time on the alarm clock. It was 3:08 in the morning. She sighed and turned to face Finn.

"Want to get some more sleep? We don't have anything to do until eleven. That's eight hours away."

Finn's gaze was locked on the floor. Eventually he shook his head, as if trying to shake the nightmare out of his head and scooted back in the bed to where he had been sleeping. He patted the spot next to him, motioning for Amanda to come back.

Amanda scooted back there and kissed Finn on the cheek before wrapping herself up in the sheets. Even though it was Florida, it was unusually cold for a November night. She wasn't sure where that thought came from, for she had only been in Florida for less than two weeks, but she believed it to be true. Amanda figured it was her past trying to creep back into her life, but something in her brain was blocking them, only letting small memories escape into her consciousness.

Amanda turned her body so that she was laying on her side. Finn laid down right next to her, draping his arm over her waist.

"You'll remember eventually, Amanda," Finn reassured her. Sometimes she swore he could read her mind.

Amanda felt tears forming in her eyes. Not remembering her true identity was becoming a sore spot for her. "How can you be so sure? How can you be so optimistic about me remembering?"

Finn took a shaky breath, Amanda felt it on the back of her neck. "Because I have faith in you." He kissed the top of her head. "True love always wins, Amanda. That applies to me and you too."

Amanda closed her eyes and a few tears escaped down her cheek—but they fell at an awkward angle due to her laying on her side.

If they truly did love each other, how come she didn't remember him? It was the biggest question she couldn't solve. If Maleficent was truly the cause of this, Amanda was going to personally punch her in the face—repeatedly, if possible.

* * *

**I hope you "Walking Dead" fans out there appreciated the reference. I just helped at a "Walking Dead" themed haunted house, so zombies were fresh on my mind. That's the beauty of this story. I can add in whatever references I want-as long as I have the disclaimer (I don't own anything associated with Walking Dead, by the way). It's wonderful!**

**So what do you think? Charlene and Maybeck remember now! Do you think they're going to get back together? I'll try to have the next chapter as soon as I can! Review and let me know what you think in the mean time!**

**Have a wonderful weekend!**


	14. 201

**Almost 1500 views! That's crazy guys! ****"Fighting For All That's Good" has gotten over 6700 views total. I think it's only fitting that the sequel get at _least_ that many! If there's anything I want to accomplish with this story, it's that I want it to get more views that FFATG. Is that too much to ask for? **

**Here's chapter 14 and boy is it good! I sure hope y'all enjoy it as much as me! **

* * *

Chapter 14: 201%

November 23, 2358  
Province 1, County 1, Iberian Peninsula  
Can Vallès Bar & Restaurant—Barcelona

11:30 P.M.

Marcus took a sip of his beer. It had been a long few months. It was sad that finally getting some time alone to drink his beer in peace was the highlight of his year. That is, if he skipped over the priceless look on Finn's face when he showed up a few weeks ago.

"Hey man," a voice said next to him. Marcus saw someone sit next to him in his peripheral vision and immediately knew it was Dillard. Dillard waved over the bartender and ordered a water.

_Of course he orders water at a bar._ Marcus glanced Dillard's way and snorted. Dillard looked like a fish out of water. Being a fourteen-year old posing as a twenty-one year old can do that to a guy.

"Always a pleasure seeing you Marcus," Dillard murmured sarcastically as he watched the bartender bring over his glass of water.

Two girls laughed on the other side of Marcus. He turned to see Storey and Mattie rolling their eyes before sitting next to him at the bar.

When the girls had gotten their drinks, Marcus cleared his throat and started their meeting.

"So how are things going with our…_friends_?" Marcus asked the group.

"I saw Maybeck a few weeks ago." Dillard blurted out. The poor kid didn't seem to be good at being subtle.

"And how did that go?" Mattie asked as she took a sip of her drink.

Dillard's gaze returned to his glass of water as his finger ran along the edge. "I…uh…shot him?"

Storey, Mattie and Marcus all turned and gaped at Dillard. The thought of Dillard even holding a gun shocked Marcus. But he had _shot _Maybeck. _The kid's got more guts than I thought!_

"What…what happened?" Mattie asked him. "Did you…uh…kill him?"

"Oh gosh no!" Dillard faced the group. The poor kid was blushing. "I went to the hospital later and checked in on him. I shot him in the side, so he lived."

Marcus rolled his eyes. What kind of guy shoots a man and then checks in on him in the hospital? In Dillard's defense, he did die when he was fourteen. He never got the chance to grow up and be a man.

"Why did you do it?" Mattie asked him, this time at a much quieter volume.

"I…I just wanted to talk to him…but he wouldn't put his gun down…and his partner was coming…" Dillard turned his gaze back to the cup of water. "I didn't really have a choice."

Nobody in the group talked for a few minutes. Marcus waved the bartender over and pointed to his drink. While the bartender was making Marcus is second drink for the night, Storey spoke up.

"And…now he's back with everybody else?" Storey asked Dillard.

"Yeah. He's going to recover." It could have been just Marcus, but Dillard looked embarrassed, as if the fact that Dillard shot Maybeck was enough to kick him out of their little group.

Marcus reached over and put his hand on Dillard's shoulder. "All's good then man. Now what about the others?" Marcus turned to the girls. "You two have been awfully silent the past few weeks."

The girls shared a look. Mattie sighed, turning her gaze to Marcus. "We haven't had anything to do. They're all back at home base."

"I haven't seen anybody since Finn and Amanda stumbled into the underground room a few weeks ago," Storey added.

"I've got something."

Marcus turned around and saw Hugo standing there. To say Marcus was shocked was a serious understatement. He hadn't seen or heard from Hugo since August. Honestly, he thought Maleficent had gotten to him and turned him against their little resistance movement.

But obviously, he was wrong.

"Hugo!" Mattie stood up and hugged him. Marcus raised an eyebrow and met Hugo's eye. Hugo shrugged as he let go of Mattie.

"So what'cha got?" Marcus asked him.

Hugo wedged himself in between Marcus and Mattie, ordered a drink, and took a dramatic sigh. "I got Lauren and Philby to break up."

"They were _dating_?" Storey blurted out.

_I swear these kids are the loudest and most obvious people in the whole world!_

"Apparently." The bartender brought Hugo his drink and he immediately took a sip of it. "But don't worry I got rid of that problem."

"Why couldn't he date Lauren?" Mattie asked Hugo. Marcus could tell that there was something going on between the two, for she was looking at him with a look that classic, cheesy romantic look said _take me, I'm yours._

"Because, sweet cheeks, he's married to Willa," Hugo said back to her in a caring voice. The Hugo Marcus knew would have spat off some sarcastic answer. But obviously he cared about Mattie enough to not do that. _Interesting…_

"But they don't remember each other, right?" Dillard asked Hugo.

"According to the big man, Willa does."

All four stared at Hugo with wide eyes.

"Are you serious right now?" Storey asked him. "That's awesome!" She waved over the bartender and motioned to their drinks, signaling that the next round was on her.

"I'm completely serious!" Hugo sat down on the other side of Dillard. "It's a good sign. The plan's finally starting to move forward."

Marcus nodded. "Do you think Amanda remembers yet?"

He really hoped she did. He had something he wanted to tell her, but if she didn't remember him, it wasn't going to make any sense to her. He also had to get her alone to do so. If Finn was nearby, Marcus was going to get punched.

Mattie elbowed him. "Get over her already! It's better that she doesn't remember you! I just feel bad for Finn."

"Finn's stronger than he looks," Dillard added.

Marcus rolled his eyes, and he didn't care if anyone saw. Finn was his archenemy. He was the one thing standing between him talking to Amanda. He didn't like her anymore. He got over that silly obsession a _long_ time ago. Obviously Finn was still ticked at Marcus—that was evident two weeks ago when Finn had punched him in the face. But because of Maleficent, Marcus and Finn were going to have to work together. Marcus was dreading it _a lot_.

"So what do we do now?" Mattie asked the group. She took a sip of her drink.

"The next phase of the plan states that we send a few to help out back in the home base." Hugo said as if he had memorized it, which he probably had.

"So who's going?" Marcus asked the group.

The five fell into an awkward silence. Honestly, Marcus didn't want to go. He wanted to talk to Amanda, but he knew Finn would be nearby. He felt like it would be safer for both of them if he stayed over here and kept doing his job on this side of things.

"I'll go," Dillard said with a little bit of enthusiasm. "I would love to see—"

"No, Dillard." Storey interrupted.

Dillard looked crushed. "B-b-but—"

"You died almost eleven years ago, remember? You can't be seen. You'll have to stay over here with Marcus."

Marcus let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Yeah man," he clapped Dillard on the shoulder again. "You can help me out on this side."

"So that leaves us three to go?" Hugo asked. He gave a quick wink to Mattie.

"I think it should only be two." Storey added. "Three might be a little overwhelming. Maybe Hugo can come later."

Hugo's face dropped from a smile to a frown in about half a second. "What?"

"It only makes sense that Mattie and I go! Mattie can help with Jess and Amanda, since she's known them the longest. I can help Finn with the rest. And besides, I know the plan better than anybody."

Mattie glanced at Hugo and gave him a sorry look. "She's right."

Marcus stood up and clasped his hands together. "Well it looks like the girls are heading to Florida. Let's head out guys. We've got some work to do!"

Marcus walked out of the bar, trying not to notice the Hugo-Mattie goodbye talk. The cold November air made him shiver. He pulled his coat closer and lowered his head as he walked down the streets of Barcelona.

He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't bother looking behind him.

"Hey!" Storey called out as she approached. Marcus slowed down so she could catch up. "Why'd you leave so fast?"

"It's _late_, Storey," Marcus scoffed. "I can't sleep?"

"Of course you can, but you just left awful fast. You didn't even say a goodbye to me or Mattie."

"Mattie's getting enough of a goodbye from Hugo, I presume."

"Marcus…" Storey eyed him, but he looked away. "They keep getting separated, be nice."

"They'll get over it."

Storey rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks, throwing up her hands in frustration.

"What now?" Marcus yelled at her as he turned around to face her.

"You need to get over yourself Marcus!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Amanda _never_ has and _never_ will like you the way you like her! Now get over it! Finn is the perfect guy for her and you know it! Now stop letting your jealousy get in the way of our plan! Defeating…" Storey paused out of frustration, "…_you know who_…is more important than your stupid jealousy."

"All I need to do is have _one_ conversation with Amanda! And it has nothing to do with me 'liking' her!" Marcus yelled back, throwing up air quotes for the word liking.

Marcus took a breath, tapping his foot on the street. He couldn't blow up on Storey right now. She was his one true friend.

"Have fun in Disney World," Marcus mumbled. "Don't get killed."

Marcus turned and walked away before she could protest or yell more.

* * *

November 24, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Main Street, U.S.A.

2 P.M.

Philby shivered inside of his winter coat. He had never figured somewhere this south of London would be so cold this time of year. It was the middle of the day, how could it be so cold already?

The past few weeks had been hard on Philby, to say the least. After the breakup with Lauren, everything had fallen apart—even more than before. He lost his job, he faked his death, lost his girlfriend.

Not only was he alone, but he was confused.

Something about Lauren seemed so familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. When he returned to the forbidden district, he had asked Wayne if Lauren was somebody from his past, but Wayne had known nothing. There was nothing of her anywhere.

If Philby had met her before, he hadn't told any of the people he supposedly used to know. He still couldn't figure that part out either.

He got tired of walking and sat down on one of the benches outside of one of the buildings lining the street. The sign for the building said "Emporium." Philby could barely see through the darkened windows, but it looked as if the place had been ransacked.

He glanced back down the street to the castle, and the weirdest thing happened. Instead of seeing the sun gleaming behind it, he saw night. He glanced back to the Emporium and saw it back in its former glory, no broken windows, everything in its proper place.

He stood up and immediately realized he was having one of the flashbacks that Charlene and Maybeck had been talking about.

"Took you long enough."

Philby looked to his left and saw Willa standing there with her hands on her hips. She was wearing a pair of dry-fit shorts and a blue hoodie that said "EPCOT 1982" written across it in white letters. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy braid. Honestly, she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.

Philby looked down at his own outfit and saw that he was wearing a pair of black shorts and a maroon shirt that read "FSU." In his left hand, he held a small black contraption.

"Uh…" Philby didn't really know what to say.

Willa rolled her eyes. "You were watching some Netflix after I fell asleep, weren't you?"

Philby shrugged. "I was having trouble sleeping," Philby said without thinking twice.

_I'm acting out one of the flashbacks_, Philby concluded. _Let's see where this one goes._

"Well I hope it was worth it! Finn's going to cross over soon, I just know it!"

He wasn't sure exactly what she meant by "crossing over" but she walked up and hugged Philby for warmth. Philby wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"How are you feeling?" Flashback Philby asked her.

"Good," she pulled away and put a hand on her stomach. She gave him a big smile. "Boy or girl, this kid's a quiet one so far."

He laughed, though he wasn't sure why. "You're not even three months in, Willa. I'm sure he or she will be kicking like crazy in a few months."

Willa rolled her eyes and got up on her tiptoes so that she could kiss him on the cheek. "I really hope this works. Not only for him, but for Amanda. She needs some good news."

Philby glanced past Willa and saw a holographic image of Finn lying on the ground. "Is that—?"

Willa turned around. "There he is!" She scurried over to Finn and crouched down. Philby hesitated before following, as if he wasn't sure about what was about to happen.

Willa kneeled next to him and grabbed his hand. "Finn! You've got to wake up!"

Philby leaned in next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. He noticed that Finn was having a hard time focusing in on either of them.

"We're going to cross you back over, Finn." Flashback Philby told Finn. "You've got to use the jolt from that to wake yourself up. Do you understand? We did the same thing to Maybeck back on the cruise in 9th grade. Remember?"

_I don't even remember! How is he supposed to believe me?_

Finn put his free hand on his head, as if he was having a horrible headache.

"Finn? Can you hear us?" Willa asked, gripping his hand tighter.

"I'm going to cross you over, Finn. Please wake up." Flashback Philby said as he brought up the black contraption and pressed the button with his thumb. Not only did Finn disappear, but Willa and Philby did too.

He awoke with a start in a bedroom, where he had obviously fallen asleep with her in his arms. She was beautiful, that he was sure of. He loved her.

_But I thought I loved Lauren?_ His mind was swirling in a lake of confusion.

"Philby?"

Philby blinked and he was back in 2358, sitting on a bench in the abandoned theme park. He looked up and saw Charlene looking down at him.

"Are you okay? You were out of it for a minute there."

Philby shook his head, pushing the past few minutes away. He would deal with that later. He looked up at Charlene and plastered a smile on his face.

"You bet. How's the power plant going?"

A smirk grew on Charlene's face. "Awesome. Maybeck and I are having a lot of…uh…_fun_…cleaning the place up."

Philby rose an eyebrow. He knew there was something going on between them lately. _Maybe they remember. Maybe _everyone_ remembers but me._

"That's cool."

"Have you talked to Willa lately?" She asked him.

"I just saw her at Wayne's apartment."

"Oh cool," Charlene shifted her weight from foot to foot. She was nervous, but he didn't know why.

"She really does love you, you know." Charlene added after a few seconds of silence. "You should give it a shot. Maybe…maybe you'll remember stuff when you hang out with her."

Philby put his head in his hands. "I…I just...don't know Charlene."

He could feel her studying him, but he didn't dare look up.

"Well…I've got to meet Maybeck over at the power plant. I just came in to check on everybody. I'll see you at dinner?"

Philby looked up and nodded. "Sure."

Charlene put a hand on his knee. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Philby. You'll figure it out." She took a step away from him. "You always do."

* * *

_The Seven Seas Lagoon sparkled in the moonlight. Jess wasn't sure exactly how she knew what it was called, but she was sure that was its name. It was a vast lake that had various buildings scattered along the shoreline. In the distance, there was a gray and blue castle looming over some smaller buildings. All of the buildings looked abandoned._

_Jess immediately recognized the castle as Cinderella's Castle. It was the same castle she had seen while she was at Magic Kingdom almost two months ago. _

_The surface water of the lake started rippling. Jess felt the ground shaking as something emerged slowly from the depths of the lake. _

_The first thing to break the surface was a large black and purple tentacle. It was slowly joined by seven others. As they kept rising, Jess found out that the tentacles were looming high above the head._

_When the head finally broke the surface, the voice was already cackling. The skin was pale purple and its black eyes bore down on Jess. _

_"I'd be very afraid if I were you _Jezebel._ Very afraid." The tentacles moved around wildly as her cackle echoed across the lake. "We're coming for all of you."_

* * *

November 25, 2358  
Province 10, County 23, Nebraska  
Somewhere along the Transcontinental Railroad

9 A.M.

The cackle still echoed in her mind when she snapped out of the daydream. She looked away from the window and started messing with the hem of her shirt. Sitting on this train for ten hours was really starting to get to her.

Unfortunately, they had eight more hours to go.

"Nervous much?" Patrick joked. He reached over and draped his arm over her shoulders.

"Uh…yeah…" Jess continued to stare at the portion of her shirt that she was entangling her fingers in. She twirled the fabric around her pointer finger until she couldn't feel the tips of her fingers anymore.

"Everything's going to be okay," Patrick said as he kissed the top of her head.

Jess nodded. Honestly, she wasn't paying much attention to Patrick. She wanted to draw out what she had just seen, but she couldn't just start drawing in front of him. He would start asking questions, and then she feel compelled to tell him. Would he still love her when he found out she dreamed the future?

Jess could only hope he would, but she wasn't willing to risk it.

All of the sudden, the train started rumbling. The door to their little cabin area slammed shut. Patrick and Jess exchanged a look.

_Something's going on and whatever it is, it isn't good._

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience folks," the train's conductor began over the intercom when the rumbling stopped. "We've hit a little bit of a rough patch. It's similar to turbulence on an airplane. We'll be out—"

The train shook violently, throwing both Patrick and Jess out of their seats and onto the cabin floor. The train veered to one side, as if it had been picked up on that side, throwing Patrick on top of Jess and crushing both of them against the wall.

"We've…got…to get out!" Jess managed to yell at Patrick. The sound of china, luggage and people crashing to the floor was deafening.

Patrick nodded and slowly got to a crouching position. He tried his hardest to pry open the window in their cabin. The first two times he opened it, the train's shaking made it close shut.

The third time, he finally got it open and he grabbed for Jess' hand. Slowly he pulled her up toward the window and shoved her out of it. She landed hard on the ground near the train track.

She coughed up dust and searched the immediate surroundings. They were in the middle of nowhere—literally. The only thing for miles was the train tracks.

_The train!_

Jess pushed herself up, despite the pain, and watched in horror as the left set of wheels lifted off of the tracks as it went around a curve way too fast.

She somehow managed a sitting position and the world turned in slow motion. The train slowly tipped over the right rail and landed on the ground near the tracks. It skidded a few hundred feet before coming to a complete stop.

_Patrick…_

Jess managed to stand up. She stumbled over toward the train wreck, falling over several times. She was determined to find him. He had saved her life. She was _not_ going to let him die.

She made it about one hundred feet when she saw someone lying facedown on the left side of the train—the opposite side of the tracks from her. Whomever it was, they had jumped off of the top of the rain before the train had wrecked. That's all Jess could figure from a first glance. She would need a lot more time to investigate to figure out _exactly_ what happened.

She didn't have that kind of time right now. Someone was hurt and needed her.

Jess stumbled over the tracks to the person and knelt down. She summoned all of her strength and pushed the person over.

Jess gasped when she saw Patrick's face. She put a hand on his chest, to see if he was breathing—which luckily he was. She glanced over his body to see if he had any major injuries and stopped in shock when she saw his left leg.

On his lower left leg, Patrick had a cut in his jeans. Whatever it was that had caused it must have been a deep cut, for the blood had spread all over both pant legs.

Jess closed her eyes and took a breath so that she wouldn't vomit. She opened her eyes and leaned in closer to get a better look at the wound.

It wasn't a cut, it was a gunshot wound.

Jess felt her jaw drop to the ground. In the minute between her being pushed out of the window and him jumping off the train, he had been shot.

Jess glanced back at the train and swore that she saw someone in a black uniform with a green stripe down the right side sprinting away from the train. _Maleficent, _Jess muttered under breath.

Jess had an ultimate feeling of dread. The realization crashed down on her with a thousand tons of guilt. She had caused this. She was the reason the train derailed. She was the reason that Patrick had been shot. She was angry at herself for putting him in this situation. She was angry at him for getting her to safety and then getting shot.

But more importantly, she was angry with the big, ugly, green lady herself.

Maleficent must know about them and their resistance movement now. It was only a matter of time until Maleficent came after Jess herself. Jess swallowed all the guilt and helped the unconscious Patrick stand up.

If Maleficent was going to come after the love of her life, her friends, and lastly Jess herself, Jess was going to be ready. It would take 200% to get rid of her for good.

Jess was going to give 201%.

* * *

**So it turns out that Dillard is the one that shot Maybeck! What kind of plan do you think Marcus and company are apart of? Are they really going to help Finn and the keepers? What does Marcus want to tell Amanda? Is Patrick going to be okay?**

**You'll see in upcoming chapters! **

**Please review! I love reading them! I hope y'all have a wonderful week! I'll update as soon as I can! **


	15. Product of True Love

That-kk-fangirl**: I'm glad somebody's still reading "Fighting For All That's Good!" It's nice to know that you love it so much! I recently reread it myself, and it might just be me, but I found all kinds of errors. That's probably just me though. Hopefully someday I'll rewrite it and make it even better! But I appreciate that you're keeping the thing alive!**

her-eyes-fiery-pinpricks**: I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who understands the one word descriptions in your last review, but that's okay! I knew what you meant ;) Your reviews are personally my favorite! They always make me laugh! :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or Kingdom Keepers (especially the 3rd book, for this chapter at least).**

**So just so y'all know, this chapter had to be split up. So don't worry, the best is yet to come! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 15: Product of True Love

November 24, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Wayne's Apartment

11 A.M.

Amanda sat on the couch in Wayne's apartment. Finn was sifting through the books on the shelf across the room, searching for a certain scrapbook. Ever since they had both woken up yesterday morning from nightmares, Finn had this renewed hope. He was determined to help Amanda remember who she was. Today's attempt involved old scrapbooks.

"Ah ha!" Finn exclaimed as he pulled out one of the older scrapbooks and moved back to the couch. He sat next to Amanda and opened the scrapbook, lying it on her lap. "This one should have some good stuff."

Amanda started flipping through the pages and saw all different pictures and newspaper articles. Most of the pages dealt with Finn and his other friends, whom the newspaper articles called "the Kingdom Keepers." Every once in a while she would see one with herself in it.

She kept flipping until she saw one of Charlene and Maybeck fighting at a picnic table. She was about to flip to the next page when Finn put his right hand down on the page.

"Oh stop here! This one's one of my favorite pictures."

Amanda gave him a confused look. "It's of Charlene and Maybeck fighting?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "Yes it is, but look in the background."

He pointed just past the fighting couple. Sitting at the next table over was Finn and Amanda. Finn had his arm draped over Amanda's shoulders. He was leaning in close and whispering something in her ear. Whatever he was saying was obviously a joke, because Amanda was holding back laughter. She would be crazy to deny how happy they looked in this picture. They looked a lot younger though. The date in the lower right hand corner said 06/10/2002.

Amanda glanced back up at Finn. "How old are we in this picture? We look like we're twelve!"

Finn laughed. "Close! We had just finished eighth grade. So we were…thirteen? Fourteen? Something like that."

Amanda looked back at the picture. _How long have we known each other?_

"See in this picture," Finn pointed at the picture as he explained the story behind it. "The seven of us decided to go out for the day, and we didn't have to get permission for Animal Kingdom, so that's where we went."

"You _didn't_ have to get permission to go to the park?" Amanda remembered him mentioning something about that. Due to how famous they were, they had to get permission to go to any of the now abandoned parks. "I thought you said—"

"The DHI's weren't installed in Animal Kingdom. They used animals for that park. We were safe."

"Oh," Amanda looked back down at the picture to not show the confusion on her face. This whole "DHI" thing was even more confusing than she thought. Finn made it all seem so easy.

"Anyway, Charlene saw Maybeck feeding a duck a French fry and she was yelling at him to stop. Something about a sign she saw…" Finn waved off the thought. "Anyway, Jess, Willa and Philby had left to go on the safari ride, so you and I scooted to the next table and pretended like we didn't know who they were."

Finn pointed to the younger version of the couple in the photo. "Eventually we got in a joke war, trying to see who could make the best joke out of Charlene and Maybeck. I don't remember what I said, but I know that whatever I'm saying right here was the winner. Willa took this photo with her camera."

The way his face lit up when he talked about their past made her smile. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind that he was in love with her—or at least the Amanda he used to know. Amanda wanted nothing more than to remember that side of herself. She wanted to be able to smile at old memories with him.

Amanda glanced down and noticed something on his left hand that she hadn't noticed before: a wedding ring. Out of shock, she gasped.

Finn put a hand on her back. "What is it?"

"You…you're m-m-_married_!"

Finn gave her a confused look. He followed her gaze to his left hand. "I…uh…I assumed you knew."

Amanda felt tears swelling up in her eyes. She closed the scrapbook and dropped it in Finn's lap. She stood up and turned around so that she was facing Finn.

"How could you? You made me believe that you loved me! That you actually cared! No, you've been married to someone else this whole time!"

Finn looked shocked, as if she had slapped him across the face—repeatedly. "Amanda," he stood up slowly. He tried to grab her hands, but she moved them out of the way just in time.

"Amanda, please. Let me explain."

"Explain what? That you're married? That you made me think we had a chance? When were you going to tell me that I was your _mistress_?"

With the last word, Finn took a step back. He took a few seconds to compose himself and then closed the gap between them.

"You are _not_ my mistress, Amanda! I can't believe you would jump to that conclusion!"

Amanda threw up her hands in frustration. "What other conclusion am I supposed to get from that wedding ring? You're married, Finn, and it's _not_ to me!"

"Ugh!" Finn threw up his hands and walked around Amanda back to the shelf. He began searching through the contents and muttering to himself furiously.

"What are you looking for?" Amanda yelled as she followed him.

At first, Finn didn't answer. He kept shoving aside books. After a few more seconds, he reached deep into the shelves and grabbed something.

"This," Finn turned around and offered the small box to her. "This is what I was looking for."

"What is it?" Amanda asked. She could hear her anger in her own voice. _Calm down_, she reminded herself. _Hear him out._

"This," Finn opened up the box and showed her the contents, "is the yo-yo I got you as a wedding gift."

Amanda looked down at the box with wide eyes. _Wedding gift? For _me?_ This makes no sense!_

The red yo-yo had accumulated a lot of dust over the years. She wasn't sure how long it had been in there, but the black writing hadn't faded yet—so obviously not _that_ old.

"A…a…_wedding_ gift?" Amanda stuttered.

Finn looked down at the box and smiled. "Yeah. You thought it was cheesy."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it."

Finn looked up at Amanda and made eye contact with her. "I once told you that I was a human yo-yo, that no matter what, I'd always keep coming back at you."

Finn took a deep breath, sighing at the memory. "I honestly couldn't afford anything expensive, like jewelry, so I thought a simple one would work. A yo-yo was the only thing I could think of."

Amanda stared down at the yo-yo.

"This was my gift to _you_ Amanda…on _our_ wedding day. May 4th, 2013."

Amanda looked back up at Finn and made eye contact. "_Our_ wedding day?"

Finn nodded. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out two rings. One was a small gold one, the other silver with a small diamond. One a wedding ring, the other an engagement ring. He held them out for Amanda. "These…these were…_are_ yours."

Amanda hesitated before taking the rings out of his hand. She was staring at them, lost in her own train of thought.

"I'm going to go get us lunch," Finn kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back. Are you going to be okay here all by yourself?"

"Yeah," Amanda muttered. Finn left the room and Amanda drifted toward the couch. She plopped herself down on it and continued to stare at the rings.

These were hers. How could she not remember? Finn probably only left because she was acting like an idiot. How did she not see this coming? He had said he was in love with an Amanda, which she later found out meant her. How come she couldn't remember?

More importantly, why did she make the stupid mistress comment? Amanda balled the hand with the rings in it into a fist and buried her head in her hands. She felt the tears stream down her face, but she didn't do anything to stop them.

The door opened after a few minutes later and Charlene walked through.

"Oh hey!" Charlene's face lit up when she saw Amanda. "I thought the place was empty."

"Oh," Amanda wiped a tear from her cheek. "I can leave if you want—"

"No!" Charlene gave her a smile "I'm glad you're here." Charlene put her coat on the coat rack and turned to face Amanda. She noticed the tears and her expression soured. "Oh sweetie what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Amanda murmured as she wiped away a few tears.

Charlene plopped herself next to her on the couch. "What's wrong Amanda?"

Amanda reached over to the table next to the couch, grabbed a tissue, and blew her nose." Finn just gave me two rings. He claims they're mine, but I can't remember and it's just…_frustrating_."

At first Charlene was silent. She took the two rings from Amanda's hand and studied them—as if they would give her the answers Amanda yearned for.

"I'm going to give you some advice, Amanda, and whether or not you choose to take it is your choice."

Amanda turned to face Charlene and wiped another tear from her face. "What advice?"

"I know Finn's trying his hardest, but maybe that's the point. Maleficent probably made your memory the hardest to regain, just because she knew it would hurt Finn the most if you couldn't remember him."

"So you're suggesting…"

"I'm _suggesting_ that you go with Finn do things you wouldn't normally do together. He'll know what I'm talking about."

"You think that if Finn and I start doing things that we would normally never do, then I might start remembering?"

Charlene shrugged. "It might. Maybeck and I were going to clean the power plant when we both remembered."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "That's not _all_ that happened according to Maybeck."

Charlene blushed, which was all the confirmation Amanda needed. Maybeck hadn't been lying about the kiss after all.

Amanda continued. "But he said you were somewhere you had been before _and_ doing something you usually do." If Charlene had remembered by doing something other than what she was suggesting now, how could Amanda trust it? She had to know.

"Honestly, we hadn't kissed in the longest time. A few months before the curse, I broke off our engagement."

Amanda saw the sadness in her eyes. She couldn't think of a reason for her to break off the engagement, but whatever the reason, it was still haunting Charlene.

"So you were in a place you had been before—"

"We were in a place that meant a lot to _both_ of us."

"So you think that's what I should do? Go to a place that means a lot to me _and_ Finn?"

Charlene perked up, signaling Amanda that she had finally caught on to Charlene's train of thought. "But make sure you're doing something that you would normally _never_ do."

Charlene checked her watch. "Oh gosh! I've got to get back!" She handed Amanda the rings and stood up, heading over to the coat rack.

"Where are you going? You're always gone!"

Charlene grabbed her jacket. "Maybeck and I have been at the power plant the past two days."

"Doing what? Surely that place doesn't need _that_ much cleaning."

"Yeah, cleaning…_that's_ what we've been doing." She winked at Amanda.

Amanda rolled her eyes as Charlene left the apartment. Amanda sunk back down in the couch. Subconsciously her gaze drifted toward the shelves of scrapbooks. An idea formed in her head.

If she wanted to find something they normally didn't do, she would need to do some research.

* * *

November 24, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Wayne's Apartment

1 P.M.

Lizzie laughed as her mother tickled her. Willa wanted more than anything than her father to remember her by her second birthday—February 14th.

Philby had always joked that she was the "product of true love," and since Philby and Willa were true soul mates, having their daughter born on St. Valentine's Day only made sense. But Willa knew that he had only gotten that line from her favorite television show _Once Upon A Time._

Every time Willa thought about Philby her heart hurt even more. It had been almost two months since she had remembered who she was. He still showed no sign of remembering.

_Think positive,_ Willa reminded herself. _He'll remember before Lizzie's birthday. You'll make sure of it._

Willa heard the microwave beep. She picked up Lizzie, propping her up on her hip and walked into Wayne's kitchen.

Lizzie leaned forward to see what was in the microwave. Her face lit up when she saw the pizza slice sizzling inside. Willa wanted to laugh. Lizzie inherited the love of pizza from her father.

_Stop thinking about Philby!_

Willa placed the pizza on a plate and walked back into the living room. She placed Lizzie on the carpet, with the pizza in front of her. Finn, who had been sitting on the couch flipping through old scrapbooks all afternoon with Amanda, looked up at Willa as if just noticing that she was there.

"Where did you get the pizza?" Finn asked her. Bringing pizza near Finn without giving him any was Willa's version of slapping him in the face. "More importantly, why didn't you get _me_ any?"

Willa rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hip. "You're not twenty-one months old, Finn. You can go get your own pizza!"

The front door to the apartment opened before Finn could retort and Philby walked in. He saw Willa and froze.

"Uh…hey," he managed to stutter.

Finn and Amanda shared a look.

"We've got somewhere we've got to be, right Finn?" Amanda asked Finn in a tone of voice that was anything but subtle.

"No, what are you—"

Amanda elbowed him. "Of course we do, sweetie."

"OH, _that_ place." Finn put the scrapbook back on the shelf and followed Amanda out of the apartment.

When they left, Philby gave Willa a strange look. "What was that all about?"

"Uh…I don't know," Willa glanced down at Lizzie, unsure of what to do.

Lizzie placed the pizza slice back on the plate, stood up, looking right at Philby.

"Daddy!"

Philby's eyes grew wide and he froze in shock again. Before he could say or do anything, Lizzie was already at his feet, arms raised so that he could pick her up.

Philby's eyes met Willa's and she shrugged. If there was anything Willa had learned from being a mom: it was that when a child wanted to be held, it was hard to say no.

He reluctantly picked Lizzie up and put her on his hip. Tears formed in Willa's eyes. Seeing her husband and her daughter together again was such a foreign sight, she didn't know what to do. This was the thing she yearned for most, but she wasn't sure how to handle it now that it was in front of her.

Philby noticed her mixed emotions and gave her a smile to lighten the mood.

"How are you Willa?"

"Good. How are you?"

"Good…I guess."

"Daddy!" Lizzie exclaimed. "I got some pizza!"

Philby glanced over at Willa and made eye contact again. "Oh, that's nice…uh..."

"Lizzie," Willa interrupted, saving him from the embarrassment of admitting that he didn't know who his own daughter was. "Sweetie, let's finish your pizza. I'm sure…_daddy_ has things he has to do right now."

Lizzie ultimately looked sad. As a mother, it hurt seeing her daughter sad. But Philby didn't need her calling him daddy right now. Honestly, Willa wasn't sure how Lizzie had recognized him.

Lizzie nodded and wiggled out of Philby's grip, hurrying over to the plate of pizza on the floor.

Willa walked over to Philby so that they could talk in hushed tones.

"I'm so sorry about that," she apologized. "She…she's almost two. She doesn't know our situation."

"It's fine," Philby muttered quickly, which told Willa he didn't mean it.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, he cleared his throat. "How come she called me daddy?"

"Uh…" Willa glanced back at her daughter before looking her husband straight in the face. "Do you want the honest answer or the answer you want to hear?"

"The honest answer."

Willa took a shaky breath. _Here goes nothing._

"Lizzie…is…your daughter. That's why she's calling you daddy."

Philby shook his head as he walked over to the couch and sat down. "No, you're mistaken. I don't have a child."

Willa sat down beside him and put her hand on top of his. She held it there and waited until he looked up at her to continue. "Do you think I would lie to you about something as big as that?"

Philby stared at his feet. Willa noticed that he wasn't moving his hand away from hers. _A good sign._

"No, I don't think you would lie that…or about anything really."

He removed his hand from underneath hers. When he put his head in both of his heads, Willa noticed how stressed he was.

No, it wasn't stress. Philby had made some bad decisions and had some more tough ones coming up. _What did you do back in London Philby?_

Out of old habits, she placed a hand on his back, slowly rubbing it, and kissed the top of his head. She backed away and froze when she realized what she was doing.

"Oh I am so sorry Philby, I…I…I don't know what I'm doing." Willa scooted over away from him.

Philby looked up at her, but before he could reply, Lizzie came running up. She basically threw herself into his lap.

"Daddy! Daddy! Guess what?"

Philby stared at Willa a little bit longer. She couldn't tell if he was just remembering or if he was confused by her—his expression was that complex.

Lizzie tugged on Philby's jacket. "Daddy! You're not _listening_!"

"Uh…of course I am…Lizzie," he said slowly. He finally turned his gaze off of Willa and started to listen to his twenty-one month old daughter rant endlessly about random stuff.

For a second, things were almost normal again. But Willa knew he didn't remember. He was just playing along for their daughter's sake.

Willa stood up and grabbed the plate Lizzie had left on the floor. She walked over to the kitchen and started washing the plate in the sink. After placing the plate in the dishwasher, Willa leaned against the counter and held back tears.

She needed Philby now more than ever. If it was any other time, he would have started to comfort her the second he saw her discomfort. But now, under the curse, he didn't know her. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't coming to her rescue. He wasn't going to hold her while she cried. He wasn't going to be her knight in shining armor.

Willa turned the dishwasher on and hurried off to the bedroom. She sat down on the bed and let all the tears fall. Better now while she was alone than in front of the husband that didn't remember her.

* * *

**So what do y'all think? Hate? Like? Dislike? Love? I'd love to hear all about it in a review!**

**Since y'all are just great fans, I'll give you a heads up on what's coming in the next chapter or two. Up next on REBEL: Charlene's POV reveals something about her past; Jess and Patrick deal with the train wreck and its aftermath; a giant, game-changing secret is revealed by a new character.**

**Got you wanting more yet? That wasn't even half of it! Just wait! **

**I'd love to hear what ideas y'all come up with based off what I just told you was coming up. I want to know how many of you can guess what's happening next! **

**I'll do my best to update as soon as I can! Enjoy the rest of your week! :)**


	16. Heed the Warning

**Thanks guys for all the great reviews! **

**So I have to be honest, I made this chapter seem awesome in my author's note last chapter. But when I was actually writing it, it didn't live up to the hype. So as a concession, consider this filler chapter more of a "calm before the storm" kind of chapter. I'm sorry for the shortness and boringness. Next chapter will be better, I promise!**

**I do apologize ahead of time for the jumping around in the timeline. That'll stop soon. **

* * *

Chapter 16: Heed the Warning

November 24, 2358  
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US  
Buena Vista Power Plant

2 30 P.M.

Charlene swept the hallways of the power plant, deep in thought. Ever since regaining her memories yesterday, one particular memory had stuck in her mind. The only reason she wanted to keep cleaning the power plant was so that it would keep her mind busy.

Because the last thing she wanted was to relive that memory.

Maybeck came around the corner with a goofy grin slapped across his face. He had his hands behind his back.

"You'll never guess what I found!"

Charlene leaned the broom against the wall. "What is it?"

Maybeck pulled a mirror out from behind his back. The mirror was probably one foot wide and two feet long. The borders of the mirror were elaborately decorated. Charlene couldn't help but notice the crack in the upper left hand corner, as if someone had thrown something directly at it. "Ta-da!"

"Okay, so you found a mirror? You know every hotel room here has one of those? They're not exactly ancient history."

Maybeck rolled his eyes and walked closer to her. "This one is broken."

Charlene rolled her eyes, mocking him. "I can see that! Plus, broken mirrors are seven years bad luck!"

Maybeck rolled his eyes again and continued to close the gap between them. He set the mirror down on the floor and knelt down beside it. "Do you not remember where this mirror is from?"

Charlene knelt down on the other side of the mirror. "No. Am I supposed to?"

"Yes, Charlie," Maybeck pointed to one the decorated border. "This is the Evil Queen's mirror! Remember? The one that you gave her while we were here so that she would be distracted? This is _it_!"

Charlene winced at the mentioning of the Evil Queen. She was the _last_ person Charlene wanted to think about.

_"You don't know the evil that's coming your way."_

Charlene shook the words out of her head, trying to play it off nonchalant. "That's cool."

Maybeck eyed her suspiciously. "So you do remember this mirror?"

Charlene shot him a look. "Of course I do! It's just not a very good memory, that's all. I'd rather not talk about it."

_"If you want to protect your precious betrothed, you _will_ do as I say."_

Charlene closed her eyes, trying to shake the words out of her head, but they wouldn't obey.

_"You know you could never _really_ get rid of us, right?"_

The maniacal laugh echoed through her mind. Charlene didn't realize she was shaking until Maybeck placed a hand on her arm.

"You okay?"

Charlene snapped out of her thoughts, giving him a quick smile. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Maybeck took a step back and picked up the mirror. She could tell that he was debating whether or not to say something. Charlene leaned the broom against the wall and crossed her arms.

"What is it Maybeck? Spit it out!"

"I…I can't stop thinking about why you broke off our engagement." He met her eyes. "You never explained yourself."

_"You cannot tell him why,"_ the voice in her head whispered. _"Bad things will happen if you do so. Heed the warning."_

"Uh…" Charlene leaned her back against the wall and took a deep breath. She stared at the floor, for she knew that if she looked him in the eye she would break down and cry.

"Charlene, I think I have a right to know why I wasn't good enough for you."

Charlene snapped her gaze to his face and saw the desperation in his face. He yearned to know why she had broken off the engagement. _He thought he wasn't good enough?_

"You thought that you weren't good enough for me?" Charlene took a step toward Maybeck. "Oh Terry, sweetie, that's not true. _I'm_ the one who doesn't deserve you, not the other way around."

"Then…" Maybeck set down the mirror. "Then why break off our engagement? What…what did I _do_?"

_"He will die. Don't you want to spare yourself the pain of losing a husband? Wouldn't it be easier on both of you this way?" _

Charlene held back the tears. The voice inside her head that haunted her for two months before the curse, and for all the time since she had remembered, had become relentless. She wanted nothing more than to get rid of it.

"You didn't do anything," Charlene whispered. "It was me."

_"You will never be good enough to deserve him. You mean nothing to your friends. You're just a pretty face, that's all."_

She couldn't make eye contact with him—it was too painful. She felt him studying her, and she wanted to look up at him, but her mind kept telling her no. For looking him in the eye would drown her in guilt all over again. Charlene wasn't sure she could handle that misery twice.

Maybeck closed the gap between them and cupped her head with his hand, making her look at him.

"Charlie, don't you ever think you're not good enough. You're_ perfect _in my eyes. That's never going to change ever. You'll always be the most beautiful girl even when we're seventy million years old in the crazy old person's home."

"But…but…"

Maybeck kissed her on the cheek, affectively shutting her up.

"I still love you, Charlene. I always have and I always will. I just wish you would have some more confidence in yourself. You can always count on me to be there to boost you up—that I can promise."

"Terry—"

"I don't want to hear it."

_"You can't do this to him. More importantly, do you want to put yourself through this again? The heartbreak nearly killed you the first time. How do you think you'll handle it in the future?"_

Charlene nodded, unsure of what to do. Maybeck kissed her gently on the lips.

"Everything's going to be okay, Charlie. Don't you trust me?"

Charlene nodded again. Maybeck kissed her one more time before picking up the mirror and returning to wherever he had been before.

Charlene fell back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. She placed her head in her hands and let the tears fall. The one thing that she wished she had courage to say out loud lingered on her lips.

_Yes, Terry, I trust you, but I don't trust myself._

* * *

November 24, 2358  
Province 12, County 5, Argentina  
Buenos Aires Apartment Sector 98

5 P.M.

_Ding dong._

The sound of the doorbell echoed down the street of the 98th sector. Greg adjusted the baseball cap to sit lower on his face. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized. Being king of the 11th district was tough work.

The door opened and Spencer stepped aside to let him in. Greg noticed how he didn't bow, like all of his servants did back home. He made a mental note to remember that later.

Greg waltzed into the living room and plopped himself down on the couch. He noticed Lauren and Jeanie sitting in two chairs around the room. Spencer came in behind Greg and sat down next to him on the couch.

"Now that Greg's here, we can start." Spencer tapped his foot nervously. Greg also made a mental note to remember that. So far his mental list had a lot of things he needed to remember. Remembering the list was hard enough. _I need to stop adding to the stupid list_.

"Any updates?" Greg asked the two girls.

Lauren rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "You'll never guess what happened! I had that Dell Philby boy wrapped around my finger, but Hugo came in and destroyed the plan. He tried to be secretive and keep himself hidden, but I know it was him." She leaned back in her chair and started twirling her hair with her finger. "I almost got Philby out of the plan."

"Key word: _almost_." Spencer joked.

Lauren rolled her eyes and turned to Greg. "When can we go to the parks and really start messing with them?"

Something about the look in her green eyes sent shivers down his spine. He had never met her before he knew that shade of green—it wasn't natural, it was Maleficent.

"Soon," Greg managed to say.

"Lauren and I can go. We both have relations with some of the keepers. We can easily mess with them." Spencer added. His mischievous grin was good. They were both mad and ready for revenge.

Greg could most definitely work with that.

"Alright, you two can leave in the morning."

"Have you got any updates Greg?" Jeanie asked him.

"I've figured out a way to lure Amanda, and possibly Finn, out of the parks and back to the 1st province."

"And what's that?" Lauren actually seemed interested for once. Usually all she cares about is revenge. Other than that, she tunes the rest of the group out. _Maybe this is her personality breaking through._

"I've decided to declare war on her province. That'll draw her out of hiding."

"But the people think she's dead?" Spencer said slowly, obviously confused. "How would that work?"

"Because Amanda actually cares about her people. She'll come out of hiding if I start killing them with my army."

A moment of silence lingered over the group.

"I've got some information that'll hurt all of them," Jeanie said quietly.

Greg, Lauren and Spencer all turned to face her with expecting looks. Jeanie usually never had anything worth mentioning.

"I know something about Finn's medical condition that'll change everything."

"His _medical_ _condition_?" Greg asked. He hadn't heard of this. Yet again, the only reason he is alive now is because of Maleficent's curse. A lot could have happened in those five years he was dead. But if Finn had a medical condition that could keep him from defeating Maleficent…that was something Greg wanted to know about _now._

"Turns out when he was in a coma, there was some tiny _permanent_ damage." The glint in her eyes gave Greg some hope.

_The unbeatable Finn Whitman isn't so unbeatable now, huh?_

"And what does that mean for us?" Lauren asked, still twirling her hair.

Jeanie and Greg shared a look. He knew exactly what it meant. Jeanie let out a little laugh.

"Let's just say a hit to the head would be…hard to forget for Finn. Or should I say hard to _remember?_"

* * *

November 27, 2358  
Province 10, County 23, Nebraska  
Bryan Memorial Hospital—Lincoln

6 A.M.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

The sound of the heart monitor was killing Jess slowly. Each _beep_ was driving her slowly insane. Patrick had been here for a over a day now, but he hadn't woken up since the train wreck.

To say Jess was getting anxious would be an understatement.

"Please wake up," Jess whispered to Patrick as she stroked his hand with her thumb. "I need you."

Jess let her words hang in the air for a few seconds. "And of course no response…"

Jess got up from her chair next to his hospital bed and paced around the room.

_Maleficent probably knows I'm here. She probably knows that Patrick hasn't woken up yet. She's probably on her way to kill me—no, another assassin is coming. I've got to get out of here, but I can't leave Patrick. _

The door opened and a nurse scurried in.

"Miss Jessica?" The nurse asked. Her tone of voice suggested she was nervous and fidgety about something.

Jess stopped pacing and looked at the nurse expectantly. "Yes?"

"This call is for you," the nurse gave a phone to Jess.

"Thanks," Jess muttered as the nurse scurried out of the room. Once the door was closed, Jess held the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Jess! Oh thank goodness you're okay!"

"Uh…who is this?"

"It's me, Finn! I mean…uh…Daniel. You know me as Daniel."

"Oh, Daniel! Hey, now's not the best time." Jess started pacing again without realizing it.

"Look Jess… I know Patrick is in a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska."

"How do you—"

"I have my sources!"

Before Jess could retort and argue back, Daniel continued. "I need you to come back to the forbidden district…like…now."

"What?" Jess blurted out. She glanced around the room, as if her shouting would awaken Patrick. It didn't. She composed herself and lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. "What do you mean come back now?"

"We've got some…stuff that's happened. We need you to come back now and help us."

"But Patrick…he's not waking up…"

"I know, Jess, I know, but we need you now. The sooner the better." Jess heard some shouting in the background. "We need your help."

"But Patrick—"

"Jess, you'll have to leave him. I'll make sure he's okay."

"But—"

"Jess, I know this is hard—" The sound of glass breaking cut Daniel off.

"Daniel?" When she heard no answer, she spoke up. "Daniel?"

"Jess. Come quick! She—"

The line cut off.

Jess closed the phone and stood at the foot of Patrick's bed, frozen in shock. The nurse came back, took back the phone, and did a routine check up on Patrick.

After the nurse had left, Jess grabbed a piece of paper from the bedside table and started writing Patrick a note.

She didn't want to leave, but she had no choice. He would need to know why he wasn't going to be there when he woke up. He would need to know where she had gone, and that hopefully she would be safe.

She stuffed the note in his jacket pocket and slowly backed out of the room. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and started toward the hospital exit.

She had to make it to a train station and fast. Her friends needed her—whether she remembered who they are or not.

* * *

November 26, 2358  
Security Room 3  
Undisclosed Location

"We've got reports saying that most of the keepers are inhabiting the forbidden district, my lady."

The soldier tried his hardest not to tap his foot out of nervous habits. Maleficent made him nervous. Just bringing her a simple order freaked him out.

Right now she was sitting in a black desk chair facing several screens. On these screens were links to security cameras in the so-called forbidden district. The soldier could hear her tapping her long fingernails on the sides of the chairs.

"I see we've got a problem." She pointed to one of the screens in the top right hand corner. On that screen were six people sitting at a table outside. From what the soldier had learned from working directly with Maleficent, he knew it was somewhere in the abandoned park called "Magic Kingdom." Six people—three boys and three girls—were sitting around a white, plastic picnic table eating lunch. The screen zoomed in on the group and the soldier could tell they were eating hot dogs. The plates had the word "Casey's" written on it.

Maleficent turned around and suddenly the room got colder. Her eyes bore down on him in an evil stare. The soldier straightened up and stood at attention.

"You have new orders."

"Yes, my lady. A-a-and what are they?"

"Bring the 'Kingdom Keepers' and bring them to me at once."

The soldier bowed. "Yes, my lady." He turned to walk out of the room, but Maleficent called out.

"And make sure they are alive, but if they resist, don't think twice about injuring them."

The soldier turned around to bow once more, but Maleficent held out her hand to stop him.

"I need them here as soon as possible and I need them alive." She spun back around in her chair and stared at the same screen as before. "I will make them suffer before they die."

* * *

**So what do y'all think? Please review! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Enjoy the rest of your week!**


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